Keir Starmer is set to introduce a digital ID card – labelled the ‘Brit card’ – in a bid to make Whitehall more efficient and take control of illegal work by some migrants, it has been reported.
The Prime Minister is expected to announce plans on Friday during a speech that Labour will roll out legislation for a mandatory ID card, according to Sky News and The Guardian.
The policy has been trumpeted by think tanks and former politicians, including William Hague and Tony Blair, as being key to addressing illegal working and ease data loads across government departments.
Plans have been in the works for months, with former work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden hinting that it could be introduced after he paid visits to Estonia where digital cards help people access public services.
Labour Together, the think tank which is linked to some of Starmer’s closest allies, published an extensive report on how a Brit card could work.
It said it would tackle visa overstayers and protect legal migrants already in the UK, costing the government at most £400m to deliver.
Its flagship report detailed a number of guardrails, including “sophisticated encryption”, that could protect British people’s lives.
Proponents of the policy said: “It could end identity exclusion, resolving uncertainty and risk for those whose status is uncertain, and providing a quick, secure, privacy-preserving means for everyone to verify their identity and their migration status when dealing with government, when taking up a new job, or taking on property.”
Keir Starmer to face opposition on Brit card
Polling by Labour Together previously suggested 80 per cent of Brits backed digital identity for different cases.
Democracy campaigners and civil liberties groups are likely to push back against plans, with similar plans made by Blair to introduce national identity two decades receiving backlash and eventually falling through.
Critics at Big Brother Watch argue that the system would “fundamentally change the nature of our relationship with the state” and create security risks amid a rise in cyber attacks.
It has also said people in marginalised and vulnerable groups would have reduced access to online services and undo values “that underpin a free society”.
Researchers have pointed to issues with the eVisa system and people’s lack of trust in the government as evidence that a digital ID would not be fit for purpose.