According to multiple outlets, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce plans to require all working adults in Great Britain to have a government-issued digital identity card.

Starmer could give a speech on requiring digital IDs as early as Friday.

The prime minister reportedly will cite tackling illegal immigration as the reason for the digital ID scheme.

“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to sign a law mandating Digital IDs for every adult in the UK. Framed as a fix for illegal immigration, the system will force citizens to prove their right to live and work with a digital ID app tied to a central database. Problem. Reaction. Solution,” Shadow of Ezra commented.

More from Sky News:

The plans would require anyone starting a new job or renting a home to show the card on a smartphone app, which would then be checked against a central database of those entitled to work and live here.

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It is hoped this would reduce the attraction of working in the UK illegally, including for delivery companies.

At the moment, workers have to show at least one form of physical ID in the form of documents, but there are concerns within government that these can be faked.

French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly warned that the lack of ID cards in the UK acts as a major pull factor for Channel crossings, as migrants feel they are able to find work in the black economy.

Many critics quickly condemned the use of digital ID.

“All that digital ID will be is a means of controlling the population of telling us what we can and can’t do,” Nigel Farage said.

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The Independent provided further info:

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.

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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.”

 

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