Identity Cards Bill

I listened with great interest to the hon. Gentleman’s whipped speech. I have had fun before with the Whips’ plants on the Government Benches. He is clearly a new addition to that group. I shall give way in a moment. In the run-up to the debate there was an independent report about the cost and technical capability of the proposed systems—an independent report by the London School of Economics. [Interruption.] I expected hon. Members to groan. The Government—and, to my surprise, the Home Secretary—have been attacking the individuals who drew up that report. As a result, Howard Davies, the head of the LSE, wrote to the Government saying, ““You are wrong to attack individuals who wrote the report. Sixty different people wrote it. It was peer reviewed. It was written by experts on various aspects of ID card technology.”” I will return to their views.