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Identity Cards Bill

The noble Lord, Lord Bhattacharyya, made at least three mistakes in what he said. First, he said that some of us on this side had dropped our objections to the Bill. He is looking at one noble Lord who, the more he hears about the Bill, the more he objects to it. Secondly, he held up the air traffic control system as an example of how we should do things. I suggest to your Lordships that the estimated costs of the air traffic control system were provided and that they were hopelessly wrong. The air traffic control system went way over budget. Thirdly, he said that the complexity of the system was the reason for querying the cost. For that reason alone, the amendment is justified. I lay aside the increase in cost of the Inland Revenue computer and that of the National Health Service. I had a friend who worked on the Foreign Office’s computers. He said that the level of inter-office back-biting and the lack of understanding of the officials who were installing the machines were horrifying. I accept that that is anecdotal and not normally accepted as real evidence, but it fitted in with what one had heard. The idea that Parliament gets its estimates right is laughable, from the time when Edward III went way over budget on Windsor Castle. I accept that that is slightly too recent for members for the Liberal Party. More up-to-date examples include the Scottish Parliament, the Millennium Dome—