Identity Cards Bill

I begin by picking up a point that the right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) made. I hope that I do not misrepresent him when I say that I understood him to argue that all the information exists on various Government databases and it is therefore not objectionable to bring it together, and that exceptional access to it would be allowed only for the prevention and detection of crime. If I have misrepresented him, he can intervene—he does not wish to do that, so I presume that I have not. I have never been one to allow the facts to get in the way of a good rant, but when I listened to the right hon. Gentleman I had occasion to examine the terms of the Bill. Clause 1(3) sets out the statutory purposes for the maintenance of the national identity register, including: "““the provision of a secure and reliable method for registrable facts about such individuals to be ascertained or verified wherever that is necessary in the public interest.””" The public interest is defined in subsection (4). It includes "““the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime””." However, it also includes "““the interests of national security . . . the purposes of the enforcement of immigration controls . . . the purposes of the enforcement of prohibitions on unauthorised working or employment; or””—" the widest example— "““the purpose of securing the efficient and effective provision of public services.””" It is difficult to imagine what would not be covered under the latter.