Sir Keir Starmer is set on Friday to confirm plans for every adult in the UK to have a digital ID card, as the prime minister looks to toughen measures against irregular immigrants despite concerns over civil liberties.
Starmer is expected to lay out the policy at a conference in London of “progressive” western leaders, including Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move — which the Financial Times last week reported that Starmer was going to push ahead with — will come days before Labour’s annual conference and in spite of doubts inside the government over the policy.
Some ministers are still haunted by former prime minister Sir Tony Blair’s costly and unsuccessful attempt to roll out compulsory ID cards in the 2000s. The scheme was scrapped by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010 after big cost overruns and heavy opposition from civil liberties campaigners.
But the move has been backed by senior figures in Starmer’s administration, including home secretary Shabana Mahmood, and endorsed by the influential think-tank Labour Together.
This month Mahmood replaced Yvette Cooper, who had been resistant to the idea of a universal digital ID scheme, with the task of tackling small-boat arrivals after a summer of rising opposition to immigration.
Digital ID cards would make it harder for irregular migrants and asylum seekers to work illegally, an area that leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron have suggested is a “pull factor” for migrants trying to reach the UK.
Details of the scheme, which is expected to require legislation, are likely to be subject to consultation. But one of the key models under consideration would involve giving a digital ID to every person with a legal right to be in Britain — either through citizenship or legalised immigration status, according to people briefed on ministers’ thinking.
The ID would then be used for right-to-work checks and to determine whether a person was eligible for a home rental contract. The digital ID would not be used to govern access to the NHS, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Downing Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ministers in favour of the scheme hope that if the first stage of the rollout were to go well, digital ID could subsequently be extended for use in other contexts, including access to benefits.
This month, Starmer suggested the policy could “play an important part” in making the UK a less appealing destination for people seeking to enter the country by clandestine routes.
“We all carry far more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago,” he told the BBC, while Mahmood has said her “long-term personal political view has always been in favour of ID cards”.
Sceptics of the plan inside government said questions remained about what benefit a digital ID had over e-visas, which are already being used by immigration enforcement to check whether migrants have a right to be in the UK.
Starmer will use Friday’s speech to the Global Progressive Action Conference, which is being co-hosted by Labour Together, to outline what he sees as a progressive view of patriotism in contrast to the populist approach of Nigel Farage.
Farage’s Reform UK party has surged ahead in the polls since Starmer took office in July last year, promising the mass deportation of irregular migrants in Britain if it wins power.
The UK prime minister has sought to form a loose coalition of like-minded leaders, including Carney — a former governor of the Bank of England — and Albanese as a liberal bulwark against what they view as divisive populism.
notsussamong on
This is all he does with 400 seats… UK bros is it joever?
ultramilkplus on
r/loicense is about to lose it’s mind. This is their superbowl.
CRoss1999 on
It would be so simple to save the uk, fix zoning nationally, remove triple lock, push for more trade deals. Such a shame no one can get a majority for that
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Sir Keir Starmer is set on Friday to confirm plans for every adult in the UK to have a digital ID card, as the prime minister looks to toughen measures against irregular immigrants despite concerns over civil liberties.
Starmer is expected to lay out the policy at a conference in London of “progressive” western leaders, including Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move — which the Financial Times last week reported that Starmer was going to push ahead with — will come days before Labour’s annual conference and in spite of doubts inside the government over the policy.
Some ministers are still haunted by former prime minister Sir Tony Blair’s costly and unsuccessful attempt to roll out compulsory ID cards in the 2000s. The scheme was scrapped by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010 after big cost overruns and heavy opposition from civil liberties campaigners.
But the move has been backed by senior figures in Starmer’s administration, including home secretary Shabana Mahmood, and endorsed by the influential think-tank Labour Together.
This month Mahmood replaced Yvette Cooper, who had been resistant to the idea of a universal digital ID scheme, with the task of tackling small-boat arrivals after a summer of rising opposition to immigration.
Digital ID cards would make it harder for irregular migrants and asylum seekers to work illegally, an area that leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron have suggested is a “pull factor” for migrants trying to reach the UK.
Details of the scheme, which is expected to require legislation, are likely to be subject to consultation. But one of the key models under consideration would involve giving a digital ID to every person with a legal right to be in Britain — either through citizenship or legalised immigration status, according to people briefed on ministers’ thinking.
The ID would then be used for right-to-work checks and to determine whether a person was eligible for a home rental contract. The digital ID would not be used to govern access to the NHS, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Downing Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ministers in favour of the scheme hope that if the first stage of the rollout were to go well, digital ID could subsequently be extended for use in other contexts, including access to benefits.
This month, Starmer suggested the policy could “play an important part” in making the UK a less appealing destination for people seeking to enter the country by clandestine routes.
“We all carry far more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago,” he told the BBC, while Mahmood has said her “long-term personal political view has always been in favour of ID cards”.
Sceptics of the plan inside government said questions remained about what benefit a digital ID had over e-visas, which are already being used by immigration enforcement to check whether migrants have a right to be in the UK.
Starmer will use Friday’s speech to the Global Progressive Action Conference, which is being co-hosted by Labour Together, to outline what he sees as a progressive view of patriotism in contrast to the populist approach of Nigel Farage.
Farage’s Reform UK party has surged ahead in the polls since Starmer took office in July last year, promising the mass deportation of irregular migrants in Britain if it wins power.
The UK prime minister has sought to form a loose coalition of like-minded leaders, including Carney — a former governor of the Bank of England — and Albanese as a liberal bulwark against what they view as divisive populism.
This is all he does with 400 seats… UK bros is it joever?
r/loicense is about to lose it’s mind. This is their superbowl.
It would be so simple to save the uk, fix zoning nationally, remove triple lock, push for more trade deals. Such a shame no one can get a majority for that