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Identity Cards Bill

I very much support the amendment. Transparency is everything in this field. I will draw an analogy with the congestion charge. One of the interesting things that emerged recently in the litigation commenced by my noble friend Lady Walmsley in relation to the congestion charge was that Transport for London had a policy, which had never been published and no one knew about, that it could remit part of or the whole congestion charge in certain mitigating circumstances. No one knew that it had that discretion, and no one knew the circumstances in which it operated. It was the subject of huge criticism, both in the divisional court and by Lord Justice Sedley in the recent Court of Appeal decision. It is essential that the right of the citizen to know that he is regarded as a defaulter and that a procedure whereby he can put mitigating circumstances before the registrar or the Secretary of State should be crystal clear on the face of the Bill.