UK Borders Bill

There are clearly differences of opinion between the noble Lords on the Liberal Democrat Benches and the noble Lord. On the general point about fingerprints, the noble Lord said that the system is used worldwide, which it is, and that it is thoroughly reliable. I hate to say to him that the clause applies to Scotland. He may know that recently a lady police officer was said in court to have been present at a certain place at a certain time when a crime was committed, because her fingerprints were found there. She denied that. She was then accused of perjury, because the fingerprint system is considered to be completely foolproof. That was a terrible thing for her. Subsequently, it was discovered that the fingerprint matching system—which is separate in Scotland, I think it is a fingerprint agency there—was not in fact foolproof, and she received a very large sum in compensation rather than all that going back to court. The noble Lord’s officials may know about that; I cannot expect him to know about it. It was a very big case in Scotland not very long ago. This business of fingerprints is not completely simple. The final inquiry has not yet take place, and we may hear more. I urge a little bit of caution, particularly if it is more problematic with children. A six year-old’s fingers are a bit podgy. I have a fruit bowl with some of my great nephews’ and nieces’ fingerprints on it, which they did at school, and it is pretty blurred. I am sure that the system is very much better than that, but I can see that there might be problems.