Identity Cards Bill

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those questions, which lead me neatly into the second paragraph of my opening speech, in which I want to go into the substance of the choreography or jigsaw, which also refers to the point made by the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth). It is very clear from the debate in the other place that their lordships would prefer us to go down the primary legislation route, rather than the super-affirmative route. That is what they seek to achieve in the amendments that they have offered to the House. The removal of clauses 6 and 7 goes part way to achieving that, but to go all the way to achieving that we need to include our proposal in lieu of Lords amendment No. 21. The hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) is entirely right: what their lordships chose not to do and what we are not doing in response to them is to eradicate every element or reference to compulsion in the Bill. In essence, all the building blocks for compulsion in the Bill remain. He will know from the debate on Second Reading and the other Commons stages that a number of elements in the Bill refer to the compulsion stage, rather than to the run up to that stage. Given the wording of our proposal in lieu of the Lords amendment, none of the buildings blocks for compulsion that remain can be enacted until the subsequent primary legislation has been passed. That more neatly achieves precisely what their lordships required in respect of the balance between super-affirmative and primary legislation, as is shown in the reports of their debates. An order under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, however, will not be an Act of Parliament, so the hon. Gentleman is wrong to suggest that anything other than primary legislation could be used as the vehicle, given the wording that we offer. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Cambridge keeps chuntering. I shall, of course, give way to him, but in my own time and on my own terms.