Keir Starmer makes ‘yet another humiliating U-turn’ on digital ID | Politics | News
Sir Keir Starmer is set to abandon plans to make digital ID compulsory in what has been branded “another humiliating U-turn”. The Prime Minister said the scheme would operate compulsorily in the UK when he announced it last year as part of efforts to tackle the small boat crisis.
However, it is reported that when it comes into force in 2029, this will no longer be mandatory but voluntary. The Conservative Party welcomed the move but said it was “another humiliating U-turn” by the Prime Minister.
Shadow Cabinet Secretary Mike Wood said: “Keir Starmer’s spinelessness is becoming the pattern, not the exception.
“What was sold as a tough crackdown on illegal work is now set to become another costly, ill-conceived experiment, abandoned at the first sign of pressure from the Labor backbenchers.
“Only the Conservatives have the plan and the team to restore common sense to public policy.”
Reform Britain leader Nigel Farage has vowed his rebel party will abolish digital identity altogether.
He said: “This is a victory for individual freedom over a terrible, authoritarian government.”
A government source said the imperative element was “to stop conversations about what digital IDs can be used for in general.”
“Backing back on compulsory use cases would deflate one of the main points of contention,” the source told The Times.
“We don’t want to risk some 65-year-old in a rural area being prevented from working because they don’t wear their ID card.”
This comes after almost three million people signed a petition against the introduction of digital ID on Parliament’s official website.
And a YouGov poll showed public support for the initiative had fallen following the Prime Minister’s announcement in September.
The reversal follows a long string of U-turns by the Government, including the cancellation of most pensioners’ winter fuel payments and a farmer inheritance tax raid.
And it was reported earlier today that plans to reduce jury trials may be watered down.
A government spokesman said: “We are committed to mandatory digital right-to-work checks.
“We have always been clear that the details of the digital identity plan will be determined following a comprehensive public consultation which will begin shortly.
“Digital ID will make daily life easier for people, enabling public services to be more personal, unified and effective, while remaining inclusive.”
