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Identity Cards Bill

My Lords, I do like to give pleasure to the Minister, and on this occasion I certainly can. I forgive the noble Lord, Lord Gould of Brookwood much. Never mind if it was a Second Reading speech; welcome back. He is the first Government Back-Bencher to speak today. He was speaking in support of the Government, so that was interesting. We have certainly missed him in our deliberations. I know that noble Lords were not able to take part in all six days in Committee, so there is absolutely no criticism of those who do not attend on each and every occasion. Had he been able to do so, however, he would have seen the Government’s plans being pulled apart and some severe concerns being expressed. I know he has maintained throughout that the public profoundly want ID cards. The difficulty has been that it is a case of what ID cards and how. A recent survey on 18-20 November—I know the noble Lord is wedded to surveys, though I hope I may divorce him from them yet—showed a continued drop in support for ID cards to 50 per cent and a rise in public opposition to the Home Office scheme to 48 per cent. The gap is closing. Let’s see what happens next. I return to the amendment. In thanking the Minister, I should like to explain that there is a flurry of amendments here that are probing in nature, as are all my amendments for the rest of the evening. I have made it clear that I wish to assist the Bill team and the Government in reaching Amendment No. 64E. During the dinner break, which the Minister in particular so richly deserves, I will look through to see which amendments I can pull, so we might even end a few minutes early. My overall reason for tabling these probing amendments is that I hope to be extremely sparing with my amendments when we get to Third Reading. I am extremely grateful to her, and she will not see these again. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.