Starmer reveals digital ID plan after admitting Labour ‘shied away’ from illegal immigration concerns

Sir Keir Starmer has unveiled a plan for a digital ID scheme after admitting Labour had previously shied away from addressing immigration concerns.

“You will not be able to work in the UK if you don’t have a digital ID, it’s as simple as that,” Sir Keir told a conference in London.

He said the scheme would “make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure”.

It would require anyone starting a job or renting a home to show it on their phone, which would then be checked against a database of those entitled to work and live here.

The plan sees digital IDs becoming mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament.

The prime minister wrote in The Daily Telegraph today that it was now “essential” to tackle “every aspect of the problem of illegal immigration”.

“There is no doubt that for years left-wing parties, including my own, did shy away from people’s concerns around illegal immigration,” he said.

Workers currently have to show at least one form of physical ID, but there are concerns these can be faked.

The prime minister said the scheme would “offer ordinary citizens countless benefits”, making it easier to apply for services such as driving licences, childcare and welfare.

A consultation will look at how the scheme could work for those who may not have a smartphone, such as older people or homeless people.

French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly warned that the lack of ID cards acts as a major pull for Channel crossings, as migrants feel they can find work in the black Economy.

Sir Keir told Friday’s Global Progress Action Summit it had been “too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally”.

“It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages,” he added.

“But the simple fact is that every nation needs to have control over its borders.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News Breakfast: “For people who come here and want to work, it will be compulsory to show it [the digital ID].

“For all other UK citizens it will be compulsory to have it, but not to show it. People will be able to choose whether they use it or not.”

Labour U-turn

The plan represents a major shift, as last year ministers ruled out the idea following Sir Tony Blair’s plea to bring in an ID scheme.

In July, former home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “It’s not in our manifesto. That’s not our approach.”

Former prime minister Sir Tony has long been an advocate of ID cards and also tried to get a scheme off the ground when he was in charge.

Those proposals were scrapped after Labour lost power in 2010, having been opposed by the Liberal Democrats and the Tories at the time.

A report by the Tony Blair Institute this week said digital ID can “help close loopholes that trafficking gangs and unscrupulous employers currently exploit, reducing pull factors driving illegal migration to Britain and restoring control over borders”.

However, the idea has long been opposed by civil liberty and privacy groups.

Sir Keir is said to have shared their concerns but came around amid record levels of small boat crossings.

Big Brother Watch believes ID cards will turn “us into a checkpoint society that is wholly unBritish”, while Reform UK and the Tories argue they won’t stop small boat crossings.

A petition against digital ID cards has already reached half a million signatures.