Identity Cards Bill

I want to raise a small point to be introduced on the back of the important matters which have just been raised by my noble friend. It is a Committee point, the devil being in the detail and, as we all know, there are many mansions in the detail. The scheme of Clause 1 is to provide that registrable facts are to be able to be ascertained whenever that is necessary in the public interest. Subsection (4) states,"““For the purposes of this Act something is necessary in the public interest if, and only if, it is—””" and then there follows paragraphs (a) to (e). The interesting fact and one that is possibly productive of future difficulties, is that one sees that in paragraph (a) it is,"““in the interests of national security””." In paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) it is,"““for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime””" and so on. In paragraph (e) it is,"““for the single purpose of securing the efficient and effective provision of public services””." I would not expect the Minister to provide an immediate answer as to what is the distinction between the purposes and the purpose or between either of them and the interest. But it just may give rise to difficulty later and it could possibly be considered whether that might not be tidied up in the interests of consistency.