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Identity Cards Bill

My Lords, I can see the point of this. We have got a rather anomalous situation that mirrors that which I believe existed on the Continent in the mid-19th century. France and everywhere had ID cards and controlled the movements of their citizens extremely rigorously. The only people allowed to travel freely, who could get on with life and trade and other things, were the mad English, who did not have any form of identity, not even a passport. The Continent had to accept that they could have freedom of movement, so they lived a much more privileged existence. That would be completely the wrong way round to treat our citizens and would cause a lot of trouble, so we need to get this right.