Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers to deter illegal immigration

(Photo credit: Reuters)

Source: The Straits Times

Britain said on Sept 26 it would introduce a mandatory digital ID scheme for British citizens and residents starting a new job as a measure to deter illegal immigration and reduce the threat from the populist Reform UK party.

Addressing the Global Progress Action Summit alongside the leaders of Canada, Australia and Iceland, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his left-leaning Labour government, like others, had been “squeamish” about discussing voters’ concerns on immigration.

That had allowed parties such as Reform UK to gain popularity, he said, acknowledging that the party led by Brexit veteran Nigel Farage was likely to be Labour’s main challenger at the next election, due in 2029.

“That is why today I am announcing this government will make a new, free-of-charge, digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this Parliament,” he said.

“In the UK... we have got a right-wing proposition that we have not had in this country before... so the battle of our times is between patriotic national renewal... versus something which is turning into a toxic divide.”

Polling shows immigration is top of voters’ concerns in Britain, with Mr Starmer under intense pressure to stop migrants entering the country illegally by making crossings in small boats from France.

Opponents say it will not stop illegal work

The plans drew criticism from political opponents.

“It is laughable that those already breaking immigration law will suddenly comply, or that digital IDs will have any impact on illegal work, which thrives on cash-in-hand payments,” said a spokesperson for Reform, which leads opinion polls.

The government said the digital ID would be held on people’s mobile phones and would become a mandatory part of checks that employers already have to make when hiring a worker by the end of the current Parliament.

Over time, it would also be used to provide access to other services like childcare, welfare and access to tax records.

Identity cards are relatively common elsewhere in Europe, including France, Greece, Italy and Spain.

Britain, which has a poor track record in delivering major IT projects on time and on budget, said it would use the best aspects of digital IDs used in Estonia, Denmark, Australia and India in its design.

Public support ID cards

More than half of Britons – 57 per cent – support a national identity card scheme, polling by Ipsos found in July, with convenience given as the biggest reason.

But around three in 10 were concerned about their personal data being used without permission, followed by worries about information being sold to private companies and security breaches, Ipsos said.

The Labour Party tried to introduce an identity card when it was in power in the 2000s, but the plan was dropped on civil liberty concerns.

Identity cards were abolished in Britain after World War II, and Britons typically use documents such as passports and driving licences to prove their identity.

Irish nationalist politicians in Northern Ireland, where many hold Irish rather than British passports and symbols of British rule are divisive, also criticised Mr Starmer’s plan.

The proposal was “ludicrous and ill-thought out”, said Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, the head of Sinn Fein in the region.