PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
COMPULSORY IDENTITY CARDS (7 February 2002)

That this House is concerned by proposals to make ownership of a state identity card compulsory; believes that, since cards would be largely pointless unless everyone carried them, there would be inexorable pressure to make it compulsory to carry them or to empower police to arrest anyone without a card and escort them to wherever it was kept and that even then it would be of little use on tackling crime since police rarely have problems identifying suspects against whom there is evidence; also believes that any attempts to control illegal immigration by requiring people who 'look like immigrants' to prove their identity would be intolerably divisive and that forcing people to put personal information on their card would put their privacy at risk; further believes that it would give the state excessive power which could be abused and that the estimated ú1 billion cost would be better spent on more police; and further believes that such a compulsory identity card is different in kind from voluntary cards which enable people to exercise a personal entitlement such as access to their bank account or club premises.

Sponsored by:
Lord Lilley (Conservative)