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Identity Cards Bill

I have set out the issue in relation to passports. Noble Lords will know that there have been a number of changes to passports. First, all individuals must now have a separate passport, irrespective of age. Passports will carry biometric data for adults and those entitled to an adult passport. Under our current framework, 16 year-olds are entitled to a 10-year passport, and so the process will apply to all those who are 16 years old and over. I understand entirely that the noble Lord and those who sit on the Liberal Democrat Benches object in principle to the application of identity cards; that, of course, will influence the way they respond to the issue of compulsion. We will have an opportunity in Committee to debate whether compulsion is right. We say it is; others may disagree. The appropriate age, we maintain, is from 16.