§ 24. Mr. Hirstasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in view of the recent evidence of the ineffectiveness of 1163 passports as a method of controlling identity, whether he will now abolish the use of them for British subjects.
§ Mr. R. AllanI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 18th February last.
§ Mr. HirstIs not my hon. Friend aware that that has been a stock Answer for some thirty years and that there has been considerable development in that time? Is he aware that thousands of people in West Yorkshire are able to go around with passports which, it is alleged, have been faked and sold on the black market in Eastern countries, and that police evidence is mounting every year to the effect that the least difficulty for an undesirable in gaining entry into this country is to obtain a passport?
§ Mr. AllanYes. All countries require proof of identity from those who seek to cross their frontiers. Most Western European countries have national identity cards. In some cases, those are accepted in place of passports. We do not have identity cards and therefore we have to stick to passports.