UK Borders Bill

I thank the Minister for that. I look forward to reading it. I can imagine the conversation with Scottish Executive Ministers with less than three months until the election—““Oh no, it’s a nationalist issue. Don’t touch it!””, although I am sure that it was slightly more detailed than that. The Bill also includes the introduction of biometric identity cards for a class of people. Let me return for a moment to the debate on identity cards proper. The London School of Economics identity project report of June 2005 has been much quoted, particularly in respect of the costs and practicality of the Identity Cards Act 2006, to which I turn to emphasise a point about this Bill. Chapter 10 of the report, entitled ““Race, Discrimination, Immigration and Policing”” stated:"““Throughout the world, identity cards are associated with discrimination … individuals may be compelled to produce those cards … In every country that grants this power to their police, questions inevitably arise as to whether this power is used … disproportionately, against immigrants, minorities, or other selected groups.””" It states that the then Identity Cards Bill"““does not grant police the power to compel production.””" However, there is a real concern that this Bill may grant powers not only to the police but to others, authorised and possibly non-authorised. Clause 5(1)(b) states that regulations—not primary legislation—could require"““a biometric immigration document to be used…in specified circumstances, where a question arises about a person’s status in relation to nationality or immigration””." The Library briefing states:"““This could potentially be very wide, covering for example: employment; access to benefits, NHS healthcare””" and so on. Is that not a de facto requirement or compulsion? I look forward to what the Minister says about that. We could combine that information with the concerns raised in the Liberty briefing provided for this debate, which said:"““In September 2004, The Guardian…ran a story claiming that in the previous 15 months, 235 operations had been conducted adding ‘The figures showed that those arrested included 717 failed asylum seekers but thousands more people have been stopped and questioned by immigration staff using powers which the police are banned from using.’…The creation of the biometric immigration document has the potential to be racially divisive.””" That raises the real question, asked by right hon. and hon. Members from all parties in previous debates, about a return to a de facto stop-and-search regime.