Keir Starmer faced a furious backlash on Thursday over ‘dystopian’ plans to force millions of adults to sign up for a digital ID card.
Government sources said the Prime Minister will use a speech on Friday to claim the controversial plan could help stop the boats after his failed attempt to ‘smash the gangs’ led to a surge in crossings.
Civil liberties groups on Thursday branded the introduction of a ‘papers please’ society ‘un-British’ – and warned that older and vulnerable people could be ‘locked out’ from essential services.
And critics warned the proposal, pushed by Tony Blair and Emmanuel Macron, would do nothing to halt the surge in illegal migration.
Experts have warned the scheme will cost billions of pounds to develop – and could leave the personal details of millions of people vulnerable to hackers and state-sponsored cyber attacks.
Nigel Farage said the plan would ‘make no difference to illegal immigration, but it will be used to control and penalise the rest of us. The state should never have this much power.’
Kemi Badenoch branded the idea a ‘a desperate gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats’, while Tory justice spokesman Robert Jenrick said Sir Keir would ‘try literally anything other than fixing the root of our problems: our broken legal system that stops us deporting illegal migrants.’
Keir Starmer faced a furious backlash on Thursday over ‘dystopian’ plans to force millions of adults to sign up for a digital ID card
Whitehall sources said the scheme was likely to apply initially to all working adults, who would have to use the card to prove their identity in order to work in this country.
But both critics and opponents expect any scheme to be rapidly extended to cover a range of public services, requiring everyone in the country to eventually sign up for digital ID.
People applying for a new job would have to show the card, likely to be carried on their smartphone, which would then be checked against a central database to confirm their right to work. Sources said it could also be used when people rent or buy a new home and could eventually be rolled out to other services, including benefits and access to the NHS.
Ministers are examining similar digital ID systems in other countries, including Estonia where citizens are given a state-issued email address for official communications and required to have a card carrying their picture and national identity number.
Tony Blair’s think tank called this week for the scheme to form the basis of a new state-controlled ‘superapp’ that would be needed for everything from proof of age in a pub to claiming benefits and reporting potholes.’
Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch warned that Britain risked ‘sleepwalking into a dystopian nightmare’ as a result of Labour’s knee-jerk response to the small boats crisis.
Director Silkie Carlo said: ‘Plans for a mandatory digital ID would make us all reliant on a digital pass to go about our daily lives, turning us into a checkpoint society that is wholly un-British.
‘Digital IDs would do absolutely nothing to deter small boats but would make Britain less free, creating a domestic mass surveillance infrastructure that will likely sprawl from citizenship to benefits, tax, health, possibly even internet data and more. Incredibly sensitive information about each and every one of us would be hoarded by the state and vulnerable to cyber attacks.’
Pictured: Mock-ups of what the cards could look like
A digital ID scheme will require primary legislation and is likely to trigger fierce parliamentary debate, particularly as the plan was not mentioned in Labour’s manifesto.
But Labour’s huge majority, coupled with splits in Tory and Lib Dem ranks over the issue, mean it is certain to pass.
However, constructing the scheme is likely to cost billions of pounds and take years to develop and roll out, with little prospect of it being fully in place by the time of the next election.
Although some surveys have found public support for the idea, polling for Big Brother Watch found 63 per cent of people do not trust the Government to keep their personal information secure.
Labour ruled out ID cards as recently as July this year, with Downing Street saying the idea was ‘not our approach’.
The U-turn came after President Macron piled pressure on the PM to address the so-called ‘pull factors’ drawing illegal migrants to cross the Channel, particularly the ability to find work on the black market. Allies of the French President have warned that failure to tackle illegal working has made the UK an ‘El Dorado for migrants’.
Ministers have also been lobbied behind the scenes by Mr Blair, who has pushed for the introduction of mandatory ID cards for 25 years.
The former PM legislated for a national ID card scheme in 2006 in the teeth of fierce opposition, but it was scrapped by Theresa May while it was still at the pilot stage.
Yvette Cooper is said to have been sceptical of the idea during her time at the Home Office.
But new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is an enthusiast. Earlier this month she suggested the scheme would make it harder for migrants to work illegally, adding: ‘I think that a system of digital ID can help with illegal working enforcement of other laws as well. I do think that that has a role to play for dealing with our migration.
She added: ‘My long-term personal political view has always been in favour of ID cards.’
Earlier this month, Sir Keir said the public debate had ‘moved on’ since Labour’s first attempt to force through the idea.
Supporters claim that a secure digital ID card would be harder to forge than existing paper documents used to confirm identity.
But migrants are already required to produce electronic e-visas carrying their immigration status in order to work legally in this country.
And critics argue it is not clear how it tackle those determined to work illegally.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Esther McVey said the ‘idiotic’ plan would have no impact on those working in the black economy.
She added: ‘Starmer didn’t ‘smash the gangs’, his ‘nowt out, thousands in’ scheme monumentally failed, so now he’s bringing in digital ID which will monitor the law abiding and do nothing to stop illegal migrants. It will cost the taxpayer billions while those working in the black economy will continue unaffected.’
Tory grandee Sir David Davis, who played a key role in opposing Mr Blair’s original plans, said: ‘The systems involved are profoundly dangerous to the privacy and fundamental freedoms of the British people.
‘No system is immune to failure, and we have seen time and again governments and tech giants fail to protect people’s personal data. If world-leading companies cannot protect our data, I have little faith that Whitehall would be able to do better.’
A coalition of civil liberties groups wrote to Sir Keir this week warning that a compulsory ID scheme would mean ‘marginalised groups, such as the digitally excluded, disabled people and elderly people… risk being locked out from accessing essential services’.
