Reuters: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week announced plans to require workers to hold a compulsory digital identity card to tackle illegal immigration.
The plan has revived a national debate, last played out two decades ago, in which fears about privacy and security run up against a government drive for greater control and efficiency.
WHY IS BRITAIN DOING THIS?
Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party is trailing in opinion polls behind Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party. High immigration is top of many voters’ concerns, and so far Labour’s attempts to control it have not had a big impact.
The government says digital IDs will limit access to jobs and thereby remove one of the factors drawing migrants to Britain.
WHAT WOULD A DIGITAL ID LOOK LIKE?
A free mobile app to prove a person’s identity, age and immigration status, with data protected using biometric security and encryption similar to banking apps.
It would be mandatory for employers checking right-to-work status and would replace document checks which the government says are easier to fake or circumvent. The scheme is expected to be in place before the next election, due in 2029.
It could also eventually be used to simplify access to public services.
A YouGov survey on Friday showed 42 percent supported Starmer’s plan while 45% opposed it. Reform voters were by far the strongest opponents of the scheme.
An Ipsos poll, conducted in July before the government announcement, showed 57 percent of Britons support ID cards and that support for a specifically digital scheme was lower at 38%.
More than 2.5 million people have signed a petition against a digital ID.
The proposal was not included in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto.
Confidence in the government to hold information securely had fallen to 39 percent in July’s online survey, compared to 57 percent in a 2004 telephone survey. Confidence that the government could roll out an ID card scheme had fallen from 39 percent to 28 percent.
