Identity Cards Bill

I understand perfectly what the noble Lord, Lord Peyton, said and I have to agree with him. The Minister is a lovely person who comes to this House and gives us as much information and explanation as she possibly can. But during the discussions about the restriction around Parliament, Ministers were warned that the sort of thing that has happened could happen and they chose to ignore what this House and people in the other place said, which is most unfortunate. The amendment would delete paragraph 9(c). Paragraph 9 states that:"““The following may be recorded in the entry in the Register for an individual””." I do not know what ““may”” means. Does it mean ““must”” as we are often told? On other occasions we are told that ““may”” does not mean ““must”” but exactly what it says—““may””. We should clarify that to see under what circumstances such information ““must”” or ““may”” be recorded. That is an important distinction, so perhaps the Minister can tell us whether ““may””means ““must”” in this case. If ““may”” does not mean ““must””, under what circumstances will information be recorded? Also, I do not understand what sub-paragraph (c) means. It states,"““other particulars, in relation to each such occasion, of the provision of the information””." That does not make sense and I am afraid that it must be explained, because it could be so wide in its application. The authorities could be gaining the sort of information that we would not even countenance at the moment. I therefore hope that the Minister will be able to explain exactly what is intended by paragraph 9(c).