UK Borders Bill

The Minister’s response to the amendments, which would limit the scope of any of the paragraphs in Clause 5, is very reasonable. On this occasion I entirely accept that we need to make provision for compliance with the draft EC regulation and for the rules of the ICO, which requires its symbol to be displayed on these documents. On the other hand, we have been trying all along to limit the total freedom granted to the Secretary of State in every clause and which goes far beyond the limited requirements that the Minister outlined in answer to our amendments. I suggest again that we limit the clause to matters that are relevant to a person’s immigration status, but that may be too limited. Perhaps paragraph (d) should say instead that the Secretary of State could make provision for biometric immigration documents to include any non-biometric information that may be specified in an EC regulation or in any other international agreement to which the United Kingdom is party. That would mean that the Secretary of State would be able to do all the things that the Minister has suggested are necessary and on which we agree, but it would not give him the blank cheque to add any other information whatever to the non-biometric information that must be included in the BID. I am not suggesting that the Minister gives me an answer off the cuff, but, once again, as with so many of these matters, I suggest that he thinks about what I have said and tells us later, preferably in a letter, whether the Government can comply with our suggestion.