Digital ID cannot be saved, MPs told – ‘no one believes it’s about immigration’

Keir Starmer has pledged to roll out digital ID by 2029(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publis)

The Government’s digital ID policy has been so badly botched that it is now “irrecoverable”, MPs have been told.

Campaigners warned that “no one really believes” the controversial roll-out is designed to tackle illegal working. Ministers to make digital identification compulsory to prove people have a right to work in the UK by 2029.

Supporters claim this will be essential in tackling small boats – and say Britain has fallen behind other nations. But 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?”

Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo told MPs the project is ‘irrecoverable’(Image: Parliament TV)

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.”

A petition calling for the proposal to be scrapped has been signed by over 2.9million people. Ms Carlo told the committee: “Your constituents are up in arms about it and I think it is because of the way that it’s been introduced, the fact that no one really believes it’s about immigration, that it might be about something else.”

Keir Starmer has vowed to plough ahead with the proposals, saying it will make the UK’s borders more secure and make it easier to prove your identity. MPs were told system – which would be free for users – would “put citizens in control of their own data”.

But critics warned about the possibility of abuse and data leaks. James Baker, program manager at Open Rights Group, said: “Imagine the person you disagree with most in politics…

“Imagine what they could do with this type of system if you didn’t have the right safeguards in place.” And he continued: “This is what worries me about introducing this in a country like the UK is we we don’t have a written constitution that has privacy protections.”

Backers say a new ‘BritCard’ – which would be linked to Government records – would help tackle illegal migration and rogue landlords. In the summer think-tank Labour Together said the smartphone ID app would make right-to-rent and right-to-work checks quicker and easier.

Alexander Iosad, from the Tony Blair Institute, told MPs: “It allows us to move from a model which is reactive, which is one size fits all, which was built for a different age, to a model that is personalized, preventative, and that has a layer of accessibility to it.

“That is not possible with the traditional model, where you have to apply for every service and prove again and again things about you that the state may already know.

“So an additional benefit to digital ID is the ability to change how public services operate, make them much more responsive to citizens, to put citizens in control of their own data in a way that isn’t currently available to them.

“And this is something we see countries around the world embark on as a journey, and one where the UK has arguably fallen behind.”

He said satisfaction with public services had “rapidly improved” as digital ID was rolled out.