Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID to make it harder for illegal immigrants to work

What will the digital ID be used for

Instead, the roll-out will in time make it simpler to apply for services like driving licences, childcare and welfare, while streamlining access to tax records. The new digital ID will be held on people’s phones, just as millions already use the NHS App or contactless mobile payments.

There will be no requirement for individuals to carry their ID or be asked to produce it – but the digital ID will be mandatory as a means of proving your Right to Work.

The government said the digital ID would be held on people’s mobile phones and 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.

Labour attempted to introduce an identity card when it was in power in the 2000s, but the plan was dropped due to civil liberty concerns.

Why digital ID

According to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the introduction of the digital ID will help tackle illegal migration to the UK.

Starmer said his left-leaning Labour government, like others, had been “squeamish” about discussing voters’ concerns on immigration.

In the UK, like many other European countries, illegal immigration has emerged as a major talking point and catapulted anti-immigration parties like Reform UK in popularity.

“That is why today I am announcing this government will make a new, free-of-charge, digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament,” he said.

Britain’s illegal immigration problem

Much like the previous Conservative governments, Starmer’s administration is also struggling to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in flimsy, inflatable boats operated by people smugglers. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel on small boats last year, and more than 30,000 so far this year.

Starmer has vowed to cut that number by tackling the criminal people smuggling gangs that organize the journeys, and by reducing the “pull factors” that draw migrants to the UK, including a perception that it is easy to find under-the-table work.