Identity Cards Bill

: That is a perfectly good question, but I doubt that the hon. Gentleman will get an answer from this Government. The sum that the Government pluck out of the sky as being lost to the economy as a result of identity fraud, which has gone up from £50 million to £1.5 billion, is misleading because it does not separate out money laundering and all sorts of other criminal activities that come under that aspect of identity fraud. I end where I began. I welcome the concession. It does not go far enough, but I welcome the little way that it does go. A huge tranche of this country’s population will still be compelled without primary legislation to give up to the national identity register information that is private to them, and we will perhaps have further battles on that later, but meanwhile, despite the perfectly understandable concerns of my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd), I urge my right hon. and hon. Friends to welcome and accede to this Government concession. Government concessions do not come very often. It usually takes the Labour party to defeat the Government to get a concession, but today the Government have put their hands up first, and that is to be welcomed.