United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Friday that digital IDs will be “mandatory” for British citizens to work. Starmer claimed requiring every employee to hold a digital identity document will make it tougher to work in the United Kingdom illegally.
“This government will make a new free-of-charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament,” Starmer said. “You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID, it’s as simple as that,” he continued.
Critics blasted the prime minister’s announcement, saying it wouldn’t deter illegal immigration. However, opposition parties argued the proposals would not stop people crossing the Channel in small boats. The prime minister set out his plans in a broader speech to a gathering of world leaders, in which he said it had been “too easy” for people to work illegally in the UK because the centre-left had been “squeamish” about saying things that were “clearly true.”
Addressing the Global Progressive Action Conference in London – attended by politicians including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – Sir Keir said it was time to “look ourselves in the mirror and recognise where we’ve allowed our parties to shy away from people’s concerns.” “It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages,” he said. “The simple fact is that every nation needs to have control over its borders. We do need to know who is in our country.”
In a conversation following the speech, Sir Keir said he wanted the next election to be an “open fight” between Labour and Reform UK. Critics expressed their disdain for Digital IDs and warned about why people should resist them. A petition to not introduce digital IDs in the United Kingdom has eclipsed 1 million signatures.
“We demand that the UK Government immediately commits to not introducing a digital ID cards. There are reports that this is being looked at,” the petition read. “Parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate,” it continued. Polling shows immigration is one of British voters’ main concerns after the cost of living, and Starmer feels acute pressure to stop people entering the country illegally by crossing the sea in small boats from France. But his latest plan drew criticism from political opponents.
“It’s 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 is leading in opinion polls. The government said the digital ID would be held on people’s mobile phones and become a mandatory part of the checks employers have to make when hiring staff. Over time, it would also be used to provide access to services such as childcare, welfare and access to tax records. Identity cards are relatively common elsewhere in Europe, including France, Germany, 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.