Incoming United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to scrap plans for a government-issued digital ID for all British residents when he enters office on Monday.

UPDATE: Keir Starmer Announces “Mandatory” Digital ID Scheme For United Kingdom

"Burnham scraps Starmer's digital ID scheme in first major policy pledge, with the money being redirected to other priorities, such as the cost of living crisis," Sky News wrote.

More below:

BBC shared further:

Plans for a digital ID scheme had initially been introduced by Sir Keir ahead of Labour's conference last year.

At the time, Starmer argued that mandatory digital ID for workers would make it easier to clamp down on immigrants working illegally and modernise the state.

As well as tackling illegal immigration, Starmer said a digital ID system would enable citizens to prove identity to access key services quickly instead of having to hunt for utility bills.

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The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated last November that the programme would cost £1.8 billion over three years, but Downing Street rejected this figure.

In January, after nearly three million people signed a parliamentary petition opposing the introduction of digital IDs, the government changed its approach.

Instead, ministers ditched the compulsory part of the scheme and relaunched it as voluntary, saying digital IDs could eventually allow people to do everything from managing their childcare to filling in tax returns on a "one stop" app.

“One of the first things this government will do is put its focus where people need it right now: creating breathing space and delivering change they can feel in their everyday lives,” a spokesperson for Burnham said, according to The Guardian.

“This government is determined to bring power back to communities, instead of hoarding it in Whitehall. We will work every day to lift this country back up to where it belongs – with growth in every postcode, and hope in every heart," the spokesperson added.

"I suspect the scrapping will be limited to the unification of government systems under one ID, perhaps include reporting for companies, but we may still end up with functional digital identification via the OSA, and its off-shoot legislation, which I suspect he won't be scrapping," the X account 'No to Digital ID' stated.

"If Burnham means it ....then he still needs to be held to the grindstone on those matters!" it added.

More from The Guardian:

Tony Blair’s government passed legislation designed to facilitate the introduction of ID cards in 2006, to the anger of many privacy campaigners. His plans never came into force and were ultimately scrapped by the coalition government in 2011.

The Tony Blair Institute, set up by the former prime minister after his departure from frontline politics, was one of several Labour-aligned thinktanks to welcome the fresh proposals put forward by Starmer.

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“Make no mistake, if the government announces a universal digital ID to help improve our public services, it would be one of the most important steps taken by this or any government to make British citizens’ everyday lives easier and build trust,” its director of government innovation, Alexander Iosad, said.

However, the plans attracted widespread backlash from opposition politicians and civil rights groups.

The Conservative MP David Davis said: “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.”

The party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, did not take a definitive position but described the policy as a “throwaway” announcement “designed to distract attention from Andy Burnham’s leadership manoeuvrings”.

 

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