Asked by Lord Empey To ask Her Majesty’s Government what
consideration they are giving to the introduction of identity cards
for United Kingdom citizens. Baroness Manzoor (Con) My Lords, in
2010 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition decided to scrap
the identity card scheme and...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they
are giving to the introduction of identity cards for
United Kingdom citizens.
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My Lords, in 2010 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat
coalition decided to scrap the identity card scheme and
the associated national identity register because it was
expensive and represented a substantial erosion of civil
liberties. This Government have no plans to revisit that
decision. That is because we have seen no evidence that
countries with physical identity cards, including most of
Europe, offer greater protection against terrorism,
greater control at the border or greater protection from
fraud.
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I welcome the noble Baroness to the Front Bench and wish
her well. When the produced this idea
originally, I, like many others in the House, was very
sceptical. However, events have conspired to make it
absolutely clear that the system we are operating is—in
the phrase coined by the noble Lord, Lord Reid—“not fit
for purpose”. Anybody who has watched events over the
last few weeks would have to say that the truth is that
we do not know who is or who is not in this country, and
we do not seem to know who we should be removing from
this country. With a Bill coming forward in the next few
months, does she not agree that the time has come to look
at all options and that, instead of taking things off the
table, we should be putting things on to it because what
we have now is not functioning?
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I thank the noble Lord, Lord Empey, for his best wishes—I
think I am going to need them. He makes a very important
point and he will be aware that we already issue migrants
with biometric residence permits—BRPs—which are credit
card-sized documents that include a facial photograph and
two fingerprints of the holder. Noble Lords will know
that yesterday, in a debate in the other place, the Home
Secretary announced a full review of lessons learned in
Windrush, with independent oversight and external
challenge. We should allow this to happen first and then
consider what policies and initiatives we need to take
forward.
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My Lords, the Liaison Committee blocked my application
for an ID card inquiry. The Commons Select Committee
inquiries are brief and often last only two or three
months. How about a royal commission, a procedure
normally used to consider broad policy issues? The 1997
Royal Commission on Long-term Care of the Elderly
reported in 15 months; the 1999 Royal Commission on
Reform of the House of Lords, chaired by the noble Lord,
, who is in his
place, took 11 months. With the mood change in
Westminster sweeping across Parliament, particularly
after Windrush and what happened last week, why do the
Government not now consider a new inquiry? I appeal to
the Ulster Unionists, who are in a pivotal position in
the Commons and can demand one.
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I know that the noble Lord is committed to this issue.
This is my first Question at the Dispatch Box and I fear
that he is already trying to lead me astray. I am not in
a position to comment on a royal commission or in
relation to a new inquiry. However, he will be aware that
the existence of identity cards in Spain did not prevent
the 2004 Madrid bombing, nor did the French ID card
prevent the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015. I recognise
what the noble Lord is saying but it is a matter for the
Commons, should it wish to have an inquiry in that place.
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My Lords, speaking as another former Home Office Minister
who had responsibilities in the 1990s for an ID card
proposal of the then Government, I have to say that those
exciting responsibilities were set aside because of the
public attitude and the attitude of politicians in
relation to the freedom of the individual and privacy. On
numerous occasions since, Governments have attempted to
introduce ID cards with similar results. In the event of
us proceeding further with the idea once more, does the
Minister agree that apart from having discriminatory or
negative information on such a card we would want to use
it positively to include blood group, allergies and other
important information of the person holding such a card?
Does she also agree that any information shown on such a
card should be open and transparent to the person whose
name is on the card?
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I thank my noble friend for his question. Certainly I
agree in principle that in a healthcare setting there may
be some use for such a card. I think Headway has a card
with health-related issues on it. I do not know whether
my noble friend has seen the Times today in which Simon
Nixon writes about having a digital ID card. I have some
empathy with moving forward on that. Indeed, the
Government are moving forward on that as we have the
verify system in place. Our aim is to provide people with
a common and safe way of verifying themselves to
Government and accessing common public services.
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