Every working adult in Britain will be required to have a new government-issued digital identity card as part of a fresh attempt to crack down on illegal migration.
The prime minister is expected to announce his backing for the “Brit card” scheme, which would verify an individual’s right to live and work in the UK, in a speech on Friday.
The plan, which would require a law change to implement, comes amid mounting pressure on ministers to take more drastic action to tackle migration as boat crossings reach a record high and the asylum backlog is still above 75,000 – pressure exacerbated by the success of Reform UK in the polls.
But the leaders of eight civil liberties groups have warned that mandatory digital ID risks pushing “unauthorised migrants further into the shadows”.
Earlier this year, the government began looking at proposals for some form of digital ID for adults in Britain, with the view that it could help to tackle illegal migrants who are working in the black economy. They have looked to the example of Estonia, which uses a mandatory ID card system.
Sir Keir will say progressives must not “shy away from people’s concerns” when he speaks at the Global Progress Action Summit in London alongside Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese.
Recognising the concerns that exist around uncontrolled immigration, he will say: “For too many years it’s 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. But the simple fact that every nation needs to have control over its borders,” he will add.
He will take what will be seen as a swipe at Reform, accusing them of the “politics of predatory grievance, preying on the problems of working people” which he will contrast with his idea of “patriotic renewal”. He will say this will be “rooted in communities, building a better country. Brick by brick, from the bottom up – including everyone in the national story. Difference under the same flag.”
Hitting out at toxic online discourse, he will also reference the recent march in London, featuring Tommy Robinson and X boss Elon Musk, saying that puts “most poisonous belief – on full display at the protests here in London, just a week or two ago, that there is a coming struggle, a defining struggle, a violent struggle.. for all our nations.
“Now – you don’t need to be a historian to know where that kind of poison can lead. You can just feel it. A language that is naked in its attempt to intimidate.”
Lord Blunkett, who worked on the Blair government’s initial ID scheme 20 years ago, welcomed the decision, saying its “time has come”.
“Age verification to protect our children and young people; avoidance of exploitation by organised criminals abusing people in the sub-economy; acting as a deterrent to unauthorised entry across the Channel and protection from fraud are just some of the benefits which could arise from a well-implemented programme”, he said.
“It is the unplanned, current mish-mash that presents a threat to people’s privacy as well as a risk of data breach, fraudulent stealing of identity and misuse.”
The former Labour home secretary argued that the introduction of digital identification “will have to be truly universal – consolidating a whole range of digital documentation used in everyday life”.
Polling shows the public is broadly supportive of the idea, with a survey conducted by More in Common in December finding that 53 per cent of people are in favour of a universal digital identification system, with 25 per cent strongly in favour. Just 19 per cent said they were against it.
A report from Sir Tony Blair’s think tank, The Tony Blair Institute (TBI), published this week, also suggests there is growing public support for a “super-digital identity card” which would allow people to access public services and report problems in their local area.
The report, which surveyed more than 2,000 adults, saw 62 per cent of people say they favoured introducing a form of digital ID alongside an app that would allow them to report things such as potholes and missed bin collections.
TBI’s director of government innovation, Alexander Iosad, said an announcement of universal digital ID “would be one of the most important steps taken by this or any government to make British citizens’ everyday lives easier and build trust”.
“How we experience government could be about to transform, for the better. Not only can digital ID help us to tackle illegal migration, but done correctly and responsibly, it can open the door to a whole new model of services that come to you when you need them”, he added.
Earlier this month, home secretary Shabana Mahmood said she has “always been in favour of ID cards”.
Speaking to broadcasters, she added: “In fact, I supported the last Labour government’s introduction of ID cards. The first bill I spoke on in parliament was the ID cards bill, which the then Conservative-Lib Dem coalition scrapped.”
“I have a longstanding position of my own, which those who are familiar with my political track record will know that that is something that I’ve always supported”, she said.
But eight civil liberties groups, which include Liberty, Article 19, Connected by Data and the Runnymede Trust, warned that a move to introduce compulsory digital ID risked shifting “the balance of power towards the state with dangerous implications for our security, rights and freedoms”.
In their letter to Sir Keir, they wrote: “Mandatory digital ID is highly unlikely to achieve the government’s objective of tackling unauthorised immigration.
“The proposed schemes fundamentally misunderstand the ‘pull factors’ that drive migration to the UK and would do very little to tackle criminal people-smuggling gangs or employers and landlords who operate ‘off the books’.
“Instead, it would push unauthorised migrants further into the shadows, into more precarious work and unsafe housing.”
Big Brother Watch’s interim director, Rebecca Vincent, was among those warning that such a rollout could be “uniquely harmful to privacy, equality and civil liberties”.
Her organisation has garnered more than 101,000 signatures on a petition, calling on Sir Keir Starmer to reject proposals for a “Brit card”.
Sir Ed Davey told the Liberal Democrat conference this week that his party would need to properly “scrutinise” any details, but said it was not necessarily against the policy.
“Times have changed, and that is why I am saying ‘let’s look at it’,” he said.
