Digital ID ‘to be scaled again in main climbdown’ after big backlash
The Government is reportedly set to water down plans to bring in mandatory digital ID after a fierce backlash – sparking accusations the idea is ‘doomed to failure’
The Government has faced a huge backlash over its plans(Image: Getty Images)
Keir Starmer is reportedly poised to scale back digital ID plans after a huge backlash.
The controversial scheme is now set to be watered down when it is introduced in 2029, it is claimed. According to The Times alternative digital identity cards will be accepted to prove the right to work.
But the Government insists the project is not being canned. The climbdown comes after a massive public outcry, with nearly three million voters signing a petition demanding it is scrapped. It is understood Government-issued digital ID cards, a key project of the Prime Minister’s, will not be manditory at first – with people allowed to use electronic visas and passports instead.
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Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart said: “Number 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns.
“It was clear right from the start this was a proposal doomed to failure, that would have cost obscene amounts of taxpayers money to deliver absolutely nothing.
“The government now needs to confirm that the billions of pounds earmarked for their mandatory digital ID scheme will be spent on the NHS and frontline policing instead.”
It is understood Government insiders worried that making it compulsory was dominating discussion. A source told The Times: “Stepping back from mandatory-use cases will deflate one of the main points of contention. We do not want to risk there being cases of some 65-year-old in a rural area being barred from working because he hasn’t installed the ID.”
No10 insists the policy is not being abandoned. A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks.
“We have always been clear that details on the digital ID scheme will be set out following a full public consultation which will launch shortly. Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective, while also remaining inclusive.”
Mr Starmer has previously argued that the project would help identify people with no right to be in the country. In September he said: “It has been too easy for people to enter the country, work in the shadow economy and remain illegally.
“We must be absolutely clear that tackling every aspect of the problem of illegal immigration is essential.” And he vowed: “You will not be able to work in the UK if you don’t have a digital ID, it’s as simple as that.”
A consultation is set to be launched in the coming weeks into the plans. In November MPs were told that Government’s digital ID policy has been so badly botched that it is now “irrecoverable”.
Silki Carlo, director of pressure group Big Brother Watch, told the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee: “I don’t think anyone in this room genuinely believes that the mandatory digital ID is about illegal working. Which begs the question, what is it really about, and what will the other uses be?”
And she continued: “I think that, it’s likely that the way that this announcement has been managed makes it irrecoverable for this government and potentially for the next five to 10 years.”
