Identity Cards Bill

The Home Secretary knows that I have the highest regard for him—[Interruption.] Come on, we have had many exchanges in the House and I have the highest regard for him, but he would admit that this is not one of his finest hours. I came to the House willing to be persuaded by the Home Secretary’s argument, but I have been not only unpersuaded, but more persuaded by the argument of my hon. Friends that we should support the Lords in their amendments. The fact of the matter is, as those of us who have been Members a long time know, that the best debates in the House always take place after 10 o’clock. They are the best attended, and people listen to the argument and speak their mind. I want to speak my mind on something that no other hon. Member has mentioned—that is, the cost of this charade to our constituents. For the average family, the cost of obtaining a passport—which, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) said, is a right—will be increased.