Identity Cards Bill

At this stage in our proceedings, I shall try to be brief. I am considerably attracted by the new clause proposed by my noble friend. If only it was accepted, many of the anxieties that I expressed, for example, when we debated Clause 19 about the extraordinary scope of the Secretary of State’s powers, would be disarmed. My noble friend was pessimistic. He forecast that the Minister would say that this clause was unnecessary. If it was accepted, I think that my entire attitude to the Bill would change dramatically. It would be a breakthrough in our proceedings. This is the first moment in which we turn to the role of the commissioner. It is the first attempt to give real powers of intervention to the commissioner to ensure that we are not dealing with the untrammelled, uncontrolled power of the Secretary of State and the Government. Therefore, this is a very significant attempt. We will come later to some other suggestions about the role of the commissioner. But that it is important, there can be no doubt. To pick on two or three of the items covered, clearly, it is of crucial importance that we should be satisfied with procedures designed to ensure the accuracy and security of information disclosed. It has been quite clear from our debates that many of us have serious anxieties on that point. It is very important that we should have reassurance about the arrangements for the co-ordination of the disclosure of information. We have all made it clear that we are concerned about the rights of data subjects. When dealing with the security issue, it surely must be clear by now that the security function must be robust and resilient. It seems to me that this is the first moment in the Bill that we have a proposal that would give reassurance to many people who are anxious about this legislation and who genuinely fear that whatever the good intentions of government, the granting of unrestricted powers to governments, which cannot effectively be policed or where the advice can be brushed aside quite easily, is a very unwise procedure. With perhaps not much more optimism than my noble friend, but in the genuine belief that a clause of this kind and the provision of real powers to the commissioner would make a huge difference, I urge the Government to give careful consideration to the ideas being proposed in the amendment.