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Identity Cards Bill

My Lords, this is the first time that I have taken part in debates on the Bill, although I have been following them closely, in particular the debate on 19 December when, in Committee, we looked at the whole cost question. I warmly commend the speeches of my noble friend Lady Noakes and the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, on that occasion. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Soley, that I have for some time been in favour of the principle of identity cards. However, that support has been dependent on two things. The first is the exact shape of the project and, in this case, its scale and complexity, which are unrivalled—he mentioned identity cards in other countries, but I say to him that this project has never been duplicated elsewhere. The other concern is costs. I speak not just as a former Chief Secretary in saying that I think it very important that we should understand the costs. If the costs strongly outweigh the benefits, a big question mark is raised in my mind over whether we should proceed.