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Identity Cards Bill

It is not soft soap because noble Lords will know that we have a PACE code. No one suggests that that is soft soap. We all expect professionals to comply with it, and if they do not do so there will be consequences. The noble Lord knows perfectly well that codes are not soft; they are quite hard-edged. They set out the standards that we expect from other people, and they set out the routine, the parameters and the consequences. That is why we think it is very important that there is a code. The appropriate place for these sorts of details is in a code and not in the Bill. The noble Lord knows perfectly well how difficult it is to get primary legislation when practical things have to be changed. The code is the appropriate place for these details, and noble Lords and others can contribute to that code. We agree with noble Lords that there should be an appropriate, convenient and flexible arrangement which will be utterly practical. What we have put in the code is utterly practical; it has teeth and it will bite. If I can be forgiven for not being ““auntie””, I think that this is something that works.