Identity Cards Bill

My Lords, I rise because I moved Amendment No. 50, the one on reporting, on the earlier occasion. Like the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, I have listened with great care to the Minister’s patient explanation as to why the reports should be given to the Secretary of State rather than direct to Parliament. She has repeated in some detail what she said on 19 December; indeed, she has elaborated on it a little today, saying that the Secretary of State has information about security matters on which it would be unreasonable to brief the commissioner in the same detail. She has emphasised that the Secretary of State will consult the commissioner about the matters to be excluded and that the exclusions are not necessarily final if the circumstances change. All that is helpful and, clearly, we are not really in a position to pursue the matter much further. I simply want to make two points. The Minister spoke about the will of the other House being expressed on this matter. I suppose, in a sense, that it was, although the matter was not debated at all. Because of the way in which these matters are dealt with in another place, with the imposition of timetables, the debate was on something completely different and the vote simply followed automatically. It is worth making that comment when we are dealing with the commissioner’s relationship with Parliament. Many months ago, the Minister, in reply to a Select Committee, said that the primary job of the commissioner was to advise the Secretary of State. The last time that we debated this matter, I said that I believed that the primary job was to report to Parliament and to protect the citizen. That is why we moved our amendment. Although I understand that there are security grounds for doing it in the way that the Minister describes, the point needs to be made that the commissioner is there not to serve the purposes of the Secretary of State but to protect the citizen and to serve Parliament. Even though the other place did not think that this matter was worth discussion, or could not find time to discuss it, it seems to me to be the job of this House to ensure that the citizen is protected and that the role of Parliament is looked at closely. I am therefore somewhat regretful that we cannot pursue the matter further. I think that the point has been made, however, and I hope that the commissioner will recognise that the House has expressed the view that he should do his job with the principles that I have expressed in mind—the protection of the citizen and the duty of Parliament. I hope that his relationship with the Secretary of State will be very much guided by those principles.