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Identity Cards Bill

The noble Lord knows that he and I share that view, and I do not wear it around my neck. As I was about to say, the only real proof of identity is recognition. When I first came to your Lordships’ House, I was told that you could not get up and say ““the noble Lord opposite””; you had to use his name, even if you had to whisper to colleagues on the Back Benches to find out what it was. You had a duty to recognise him. All the staff in the Palace of Westminster used to recognise us. Not so long ago in this recognition game, Black Rod was kind enough to give me the numbers of all those working in the Palace so that when they said ““My Lord”” and were not sure who you were, you could look at the number on their sleeve, look down at your crib and say, ““Well, Mr X. how’s your wife?””, because ultimately recognition is important. Therefore, if we are talking about protecting British nationals, which we are, I would prefer that we used the word ““British”” rather than ““National””.