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Madam Deputy Speaker, I have always
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believed in giving people power and
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control over their lives, control over
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the public services they use, how they
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access child care, benefits and housing
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support, control over their data and who
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sees it, and control over the choices
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they make to rent or buy a home, apply
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for a job, open a bank account, and much
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more. Besides, in the age of the
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smartphone, we can take this control
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quite literally into our own hands. But
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too often, it feels like we're at the
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mercy of a system that doesn't work for
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us as well as it should. One with
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endless form filling and bureaucracy
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just to prove who you are. where you
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might need your passport to apply for a
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job, your national insurance number to
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pay tax, your driving license to buy a
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pint or a glass of wine if you're lucky
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enough to be asked. And most
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frustratingly of all, you might have to
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rumage around in a drawer looking for an
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old electricity bill just to open a bank
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account or join the library or enroll
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your children in school. It's
