Keir Starmer‘s new digital ID project has been branded ‘un-British’ by Nigel Farage – who warns it won’t stop illegal migrants and will only give the state more control.
The Prime Minister announced Labour‘s plans on Friday to impose the mandatory cards on all adults by the end of this Parliament.
Civil liberty campaigners have since railed against the scheme with growing backlash amounting to more than 1.5million signatures on a petition titled ‘Do not introduce digital ID cards’.
Only five such petitions have passed a million signatures over the last decade and a Daily Mail poll showed only a quarter of people back the cards.
Anyone who works in the UK will need the ID as part of the Government’s bid to reduce illegal immigration.
But Mr Farage told the Daily Express this week the measure – called ‘Brit card’ – would become a ‘means of controlling the population, of telling us what we can do or say, or even tracking where we go and what we spend’.
He said: ‘During the pandemic, we had to have vaccine ID to travel and to do various things. Did that stop the pandemic spreading? No it did not.
‘All it did was to impose costs and inconvenience on the general population.
Mr Farage said the ‘Brit card’ was in reality ‘un-British’ and would become a ‘means of controlling the population, of telling us what we can do or say, or even tracking where we go and what we spend’ (file image)
‘Why would anybody trust the government to hold massive data banks of information about how we live?’
The Reform UK leader compared the situation to ‘our European neighbours’ like Germany and France, saying ID cards and ‘strict checks’ had ‘made no difference at all to the immigration crisis there, and nor will it here’.
He said there were already digital IDs to ensure migrants had the right to work in the UK before referencing a ‘serious issue of democracy’.
Yesterday Sir Keir said the immigration system needed to be ‘fair’ as he made the case for digital IDs at a conference of progressive leaders.
‘Let me spell it out, you will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID,’ he said.
‘It’s as simple as that because decent, pragmatic, fair-minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that they see around them.’
Under the plans, all workers would store a digital ID on their smartphones which they could be asked to provide.
It would be the authoritative proof of identity and residency status in the UK, and would include name, date of birth, and a photo as well as information on nationality and residency status.
Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday plans for a new digital ID will be an ‘enormous opportunity’ for the UK
Mock-ups of what the new digital ID held on people’s phones could look like are shown above
During his speech, Sir Keir said progressive politicians have been ‘squeamish’ about saying things that are ‘clearly true’.
‘For too many years, it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally because, frankly, we have been squeamish about saying things that are clearly true.’
The PM added: ‘It’s not compassionate Left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages.’
Shadow pensions secretary Helen Whately said the move would not prevent illegal working.
‘We’re hearing about people working in the grey economy [where jobs are hidden from the state] being paid in cash, being often paid well below the minimum wage,’ she told Sky News.
‘This is not about law-abiding employees failing to be able to identify whether people’s ID is legal or not, they’re not even checking ID.’
Reform UK previously called the plans a ‘cynical ploy’ designed to ‘fool’ voters into thinking something is being done about immigration.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also dismissed the plans as a ‘gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats’.
The Liberal Democrats said they would fight ‘tooth and nail’ against the ‘nonsensical’ plans.
The move – previously rolled out and then halted by Tony Blair – was seized on by the former PM’s think-tank, who called for ministers to go further.
Alexander Iosad, from the Tony Blair Institute, said digital IDs should be the ‘gateway’ to showing people the state was on their side.
He said that while it was important to combat illegal migration and criminal gangs, the scheme should also be used to store information about a person centrally.
Mr Iosad added: ‘This is the moment of opportunity to deliver it – it must not be missed.’
The petition to parliament calls on the Government to commit to not introducing digital ID cards.
It says: ‘We think this would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system.’
It received more than 6,800 signatures in an hour on Saturday morning as it reached more than 1,564,000 entries.
Petitions on the UK Government which receive more than 100,00 signatures will be considered for a debate.
Ministers had previously said the ID would only be needed as proof someone has the right to work in the UK as part of a bid to cut illegal immigration.
But Darren Jones, who is spearheading the policy as chief secretary to the Prime Minister, suggested digital ID could have much wider uses in future.
He told the Global Progress Action summit in London: ‘If we get this digital ID system working and the public being with us, that will be the bedrock of the modern state and will allow for really quite exciting public service reform in the future.’