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Identity Cards Bill

I think that the noble Lord misunderstands the nature of the lives that most people live: how they work hard; how tough it is to get by; how they often do not have a fair deal; and how they feel that other people often get a fairer deal than they do. They think that having an identity card says, ““I belong in my community, I have a place in my community, I am recognised in my community and I have freedom in my community””. That is because not all people have privileged lives or congenial clubs where they are recognised through contact and whatever. They have hard lives and they want to have identity cards. They see no problem with civil liberties in relation to identity cards; all they see is an affirmation of their identity. In today’s politics, as I keep saying, affirmation of identity is vital. Times have changed: we do not live in the world of 50 years ago—would that we could—we live today, in a world where identity is a central, troubling, disturbing issue, and where an identity card helps not hinders.