Diary 10 Oct 2006. Last Wednesday I handed in a petition opposing changes to maternity services at the Alex to hospital chiefs. The petition had 16,000 names on it. I hope that the Trust recognise the strength of feeling that there is about this issue. Mothers should have a choice about how and where to give birth to their children. The choice to give birth at the Alex should not be lost but taking births away from Redditch would potentially curtail other choices too! Those who would consider a home birth might be less likely to exercise that choice if emergency help was at a hospital 30 minutes away. I have not been convinced that there are any financial or clinical justifications for these changes. Mums should still be able to have their babies in Redditch. The National Identity Card scheme came back into the news this week. Its predicted costs for the first ten years of operation remain in line with initial estimates. When I asked Redditch people what they thought of ID cards they were overwhelmingly in favour. I am not surprised. ID cards will help prove eligibility to work and provide the vast majority of legitimate employers with a simple, secure means of checking entitlement to work. Our borders will have the added protection they need from those seeking to enter the UK illegally and abuse free public services. ID cards will give us a powerful tool to combat identity fraud which underpins organised crime, terrorism and abuse of the immigration system. Human rights lawyers and the Conservatives (who oppose ID cards) should remember that the human rights of the victims of ID fraud, job seekers who lose out to illegal workers and the victims of terrorism must not be forgotten. In the balancing act of human rights - I know whose side I am on – those that obey the law and play by the rules! They deserve the protection offered by ID cards. ENDS | 
