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Identity Cards Bill

I shall deal first with the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Hylton. We believe that the clause is clear, but I am very happy to look at it—as I have indicated throughout—and come back. We think that it has clarity, for the reasons I gave, but I shall happily look at it again. On Amendment No. 145, I assure the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, that we have no intention of forcing ID cards on people who are not eligible and who do not want them. It is anticipated that ID cards would be issued to individuals not required to be issued with them only in particular circumstances; for instance, Irish residents who work in Northern Ireland, others of any nationality who spend frequent periods, but shorter than three months, in the United Kingdom who would find that useful, or United Kingdom nationals who have been working abroad but return to take up permanent residence. They might wish to have the benefit of an ID card. In each case it may be convenient to the individual to have an ID card. Although they could not insist that the Secretary of State of the day issue them with an ID card, he may decide to do so. This provision would enable the Secretary of State to do so. Amendment No. 146, which I understand is probing in nature, would allow a UK citizen to return or destroy the card. I assure the noble Baroness that we do not see a need for that amendment. It is possible that a United Kingdom national who is resident in the Republic of Ireland and who commutes to work in the UK may wish to have an ID card for convenience, in much the same way as an Irish resident that I mentioned in relation to the previous amendment, might do. Again it is for the convenience of the individual and the card will have been issued only at the request of the individual, so it is hard to see why they should object to receiving it. I hope that the Committee will feel content with that clarification.