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Identity Cards Bill

It is certainly true that the amendments before us now are very different, in two important respects. First, as has already been pointed out, they would provide an opt-out only from having the card: a person’s details would still be entered in the register. Lord Armstrong’s first set of amendments refer to the register rather than the holding of the card. Secondly, they introduce the sunset clause referring to 1 January 2010, which simply does not pass the acid test of falling on the other side of the latest conceivable date for a general election. The Bill is also based, as we know, on a form of covert compulsion by the back door, despite the Government’s own election manifesto commitment to the voluntary introduction of identity cards. That makes the Government’s agreement to introduce separate primary legislation to usher in full-blown compulsion at a later date a largely redundant concession.