IDENTITY CARDS (Hansard, 4 July 1951)

THE MARQUESS OF READING
My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, in reply to the first part of the Question of the noble Marquess, the answer is in the negative. The Government could not at once do away with identity cards. I would, however, draw the attention of your Lordships to a statement made by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in another place last week. In that statement he said: The emergency legislation still in force is already kept under review, so that powers which are no longer required may be relinquished without delay. In reply to the second part of the Question, identity cards are an essential part of the national registration system. which continues to render valuable service inconnection with National Service, security, food rationing, the National Health Service and the administration of other services, such as family allowances and post-war credits. The possession of an identity card as a simple means of establishing identity is of benefit to the individual in various ways. It enables him to obtain a new ration book and to withdraw money from the Post Office Savings Bank with the minimum of formality; it simplifies the process of obtaining a passport; it makes it unnecessary to produce a birth certificate in support of a claim for the payment of post-war credits; and it avoids difficulty in establishing identity when applying for dental or other treatment or to be placed on a doctor's list.

THE MARQUESS OF READING
My Lords, may I take it from the second part of the noble Lord's answer that there is no prospect, in the foreseeable future, of these objects being removed from circulation?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, I do not feel that in the foreseeable future this Government, or any other Government, will remove these things from circulation, in view of the circumstances of the times.

§ VISCOUNT SAMUEL
My Lords, reverting to the first part of the noble Lord's answer, if these matters are kept under constant review, why was it left to a public-spirited citizen, at his own charge, to test the matter in the courts of law, with the consequence that the practice with regard to calling for the production of identity cards in ordinary matters of police control of motoring offences was immediately modified?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, I hope that what I am about to say will not seem to be discourteous to the noble Viscount, but I would rather not reply to his question at this stage. It should be understood that there is still time for an appeal to your Lordships' House against the decision of the courts, and the less we say now, the better for all concerned.

LORD HAWKE
Will the noble Lord tell us how people managed to identify themselves before the invention of identity cards?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, all I need to say in reply to the noble Lord, Lord Hawke, is that that question does not arise out of the Question on the Order Paper.

§ VISCOUNT SWINTON
Without any disrespect to the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd, may I ask the noble and learned Viscount the Lord Chancellor whether the statement, that an appeal lies from the Divisional Court which decided this matter, is correct

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR
My Lords, I am not particularly aware of the facts in this regard. If it was a criminal case, there is no appeal; but if it was some other matter, there might be an appeal. I do not know into which category this case falls.

§ LORD MANCROFT
My Lords, if these identity cards fulfil the valuable service which the noble Lord has explained to the House, how have 10,000 many deserters managed to get along for eight years so successfully without them?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, if the noble Lord will compare 10,000 with the many millions of cards in circulation, I think he will agree that the number is a very small proportion.

§ THE EARL OF MUNSTER
My Lords, why is it necessary, in renewing an old 578 passport, for an applicant to indicate his identity card number on the application form? Secondly, may I ask whether the identity card which I was given in this House at the beginning of the war is one which I can properly use instead of the normal one?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, there are details of which I am not aware, and I think I should not be asking too much it I made the request that the noble Earl should first give me some information about his own case.

§ THE EARL OF MUNSTER
My Lords, I would ask whether the noble Lord can explain this point further. I happened to ring up the Passport Office only ten minutes ago with regard to my passport, and I was told that it was necessary to insert an identity card number, although I obtained the passport originally without inserting any number.

§ LORD SHEPHERD
I must ask the noble Earl to address that question to the Foreign Office. I represent the Ministry of Health.

THE MARQUESS OF READING
Perhaps I may relieve the noble Lord's mind by saying that I shall put down a Motion for further discussion of the matter.

§ LORD DE L'ISLE AND DUDLEY
My Lords, with respect, perhaps I may ask one more question. Even if the matter may be subject to further appeal, the noble Lord will be aware that, according to the statement in the Press, the police have now instructed their officers not to ask for identity cards in motoring offences. Will the noble Lord see that the register of motoring offences, which was referred to in the case recently before the courts, kept by the police even after the endorsement had lapsed, is now destroyed?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, I will see that the matter is referred to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State.