Speeches by Moore.

“Therein lies the explanation and the reason why so many Members of this House are opposed to the plans brought forward by the Prime Minister. Here is the question that the Government hope nobody will ask: if the real target is people who are here illegally, why on earth do 67 million British citizens who already have n…”

“I give way to the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.”

“That is exactly what a constituent of mine emailed me about—a constituent who voted Labour in 2024. They said, “If they can’t even control the leakage from the Government, how on earth can they control our data?””

“I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 730194 relating to digital ID. It is a pleasure to introduce today’s e-petition debate under your chairmanship, Sir Edward, and to open it on behalf of the Petitions Committee. I thank all the organisations and individuals I have met in preparation for the debate…”

“I entirely agree, but here we are with the latest Government excuse to introduce mandatory digital ID. I can just see the communication advisers in No. 10 looking at today’s polling, dusting off the old ID card plan and slapping “Stop the boats” on the cover. There is no doubt in my mind that if the No. 1 issue of toda…”

“That is exactly why this Conservative party is saying no to digital ID once again. The latest guesstimate of how much this is going to cost us all is a whopping £1.8 billion.”

“I absolutely agree that digital exclusion is a reality for all. I ask everyone in this place and those watching at home, no matter their political persuasion, to imagine their worst ever Government: the one that keeps them awake at night and that they would march against in the streets. For many, I am sure that that wi…”

“I cannot agree enough. It raises the question: who is actually in favour of these proposals, other than the Prime Minister? Despite the consistent opposition to identity documents, this is not the first time that they have been forced on the British public. The first ID card in this country came during the second world…”

“I could not agree more, but I suspect that the Minister will come out and reiterate the lines from the Prime Minister that he was given before the debate. Just look at the social credit system in China. Facial recognition linked to ID penalises people. Blacklisted citizens cannot buy train or plane tickets, book hotels…”

“I completely agree. In the case of One Login, cyber-security specialists were able to infiltrate and potentially alter the underlying code without being noticed by the team working on the project. In fact, the existing system could be compromised as we speak. We are assured by advocates of digital ID that clever techno…”

“I absolutely agree. Who else but the Prime Minister really wants to drive this through? If the Government expand the scope of digital ID after its initial implementation, I doubt that they will be kind enough to offer an opt-out clause to anyone who has signed up. People up and down the country, 3 million of whom have …”

“I could not agree more. It shows the strength of feeling on this issue. Thousands of people are deeply offended by the intrusion on their civil liberties; thousands are sceptical about whether Whitehall will be able to pull off such a complex scheme; and thousands are digitally excluded, terrified of a “computer says n…”

“There we have it. This is how the Government of the day is going to be engaging with people—stating from the Dispatch Box that they are willing to listen, yet not taking one intervention. May I remind the Minister that Members of Parliament in this House have been elected to represent their constituents? Three million …”

“I agree. The attitude of control strikes at the very heart of our political traditions. We are a representative democracy, not a command-and-control state. A Government exist by the will of the people, not the other way round. Put simply, we are not a “papers, please” society. One of the most terrifying elements of the…”

“Was there any line of communication directly with the West Midlands police and crime commissioner on this?”

“I will ask the same question of the Policing Minister that I asked of the police and crime commissioner: do you have full faith in the chief constable, in terms of the operational decisions that he was making and ultimately the conclusion that was reached?”

“But in relation to this.”

“It all seems a bit of a mess. We have a scenario where a decision is being made by West Midlands police; the Home Office is notified about the decision, or the direction of the decision, yet it has a feeling that it cannot step in; but ultimately the Prime Minister comes out to say that that the decision to ban Israeli…”

“At what point were any concerns raised by the Home Office? Were any concerns raised by the Home Office when there was an understanding that the ban would follow through?”

“So you are reserving judgment—is that the conclusion?”