Identity Cards Bill

I may have turned into a pumpkin a long time ago. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, for tabling the amendment because it gives me an opportunity to explain the role that the European Union and the member states of the EU are playing in relation to identity cards. As delighted as I would be to go through with the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch—as I think I may have done on a number of occasions in the past—Amsterdam, Nice and the Hague, I do not think that I shall be able to do so tonight, although I am more than happy to write to him on those details. I shall try to respond to the noble Lord this evening in short form if he is content with that.