Lord West of Spithead

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Lord West of Spithead Labour Peer. Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Security and Counter-terrorism), Home Office since 1 August 2007. AKA Alan West. Chancellor of Southampton Solent University. Lord West joined the Royal Navy in 1965 and spent the majority of his career at sea, serving in fourteen different ships, and commanding three of them. He was the former First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, as such, he was head of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines

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[edit] Identity cards

The BBC Politics Show Lord West interview transcript 4 November 2007

"National identity cards will play an important part, a very important part in countering terrorism, there's no doubt about that. I mean, one can think of all sorts of reasons one might not like them, but actually, in terms of counter-terrorism, they will be extremely useful."

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2007-11-05 - The Register - Security minister defends ID cards, longer detention

Lewis Page

Author: Lewis Page
Summary: The Liberal Democrat party has attacked the proposed National ID card scheme, on the grounds that the government cannot effectively implement simpler plans such as passport interviews. But the new government security minister has mounted a spirited defence. "The Government has made a total mess of introducing interviews for first-time passport applicants," said Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman. ... But Baron West of Spithead, ennobled and installed as security minister by the incoming Brown administration, defended the passport scheme in a BBC interview. "What I particularly like in my counter-terrorist role," he said, "is the fact that we're going for two biometrics, for passports for people coming into this country and our passport holders - that will help without a doubt, in being able to pin down the terrorist movement and who terrorists are..." The new security supremo also said he hadn't heard anything about the government going cold on ID cards, and that he was looking forward to them. "National identity cards will play an important part, a very important part in countering terrorism, there's no doubt about that," he said. "I mean, one can think of all sorts of reasons one might not like them, but actually, in terms of counter-terrorism, they will be extremely useful." Lord West is on record as believing that the UK faces a 15-year war against terrorism.
2007-11-05 - The Independent - ID cards plan behind schedule and soaring in cost, say critics
Author: Andrew Grice
Summary: The Government's plan to bring in identity cards is running behind schedule and the cost is soaring, according to critics. Ministers have revealed they have spent £69m on opening 59 passport interview centres that will form the core of the ID registration network. ... Lord West of Spithead, the Security minister and former First Sea Lord, told the BBC's Politics Show: "National identity cards will play an important part, a very important part in countering terrorism, there's no doubt about that. I mean, one can think of all sorts of reasons one might not like them, but actually, in terms of counter-terrorism, they will be extremely useful."
2007-11-05 - The Times - Lord West defends identity card scheme
Summary: Lord West of Spithead, the Security Minister, defended the identity cards project after reports that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, wanted to shelve the controversial scheme. Lord West said that the cards would play an "important role in countering terrorism". It was reported that the Prime Minister would postpone plans to make ID cards compulsory but Lord West said that he was not aware of that. He said on BBC One: "Identity cards in a purely counter-terrorist role will be of help."
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