Keir Starmer to look at India’s digital ID system during visit to Mumbai | Identity cards

Keir Starmer will examine India’s digital identity system as a potential model for the UK during his visit to Mumbai, praising the system as a “huge success”.

Speaking on a two-day trip to Mumbai, where he met an expert on India’s digital identity system, Starmer advocated for a similar measure to be introduced in the UK and said he believed a voluntary system could be extended to cover school applications, mortgages and driving licences.

Starmer met with Nandan Nilekani, the non-executive chairman of tech company Infosys, to discuss the transformation of India’s benefits system, which has reduced proliferation and red tape but has also sparked serious debate over the exclusion of some minorities.

India’s version of the program – Aadhaar – has been introduced to almost all of its 1.4 billion citizens in the last 15 years.

Starmer’s spokesman said the meeting was not about a possible commercial deal with Infosys, adding that the government was aiming to create its own version of the plan in the public sector.

But its interest in the India scheme will be perceived as another sign that the government hopes the ID scheme will eventually become part of the UK welfare system.

Speaking to reporters on the way to Mumbai, Starmer said he hoped he would regain the public’s trust due to the conveniences that digital identities, whose popularity has fallen since his announcement, can provide.

“I don’t know how many times the rest of you have had to look in the bottom drawer for three bills when you want to send your kids to school or you’ve applied for that, it frustrates me,” he said.

“I think we can gain a significant advantage. We are going to India, a country that has made identification and has achieved great success. Therefore, one of the meetings I will hold is about identity, in connection with this.”

The digital identity system in India is much more comprehensive than that announced by the UK government and holds residential and contact information as well as biometric data. Government sources said there was no intention to copy the system, but that 80 million transactions were processed a day and its use and implementation was being scrutinised.

Although it had controversial consequences, it is considered a success, with estimates that it saved the Indian economy around £11 billion in administration and corruption costs.

Citizens are given a 12-digit identification number; This trick eliminates the need for multiple layers of paper documents to prove their status when they open bank accounts or apply for government benefits. Before the program, millions of babies were not routinely registered at birth, leaving people struggling to access benefits or ways to prove their existence later in life.

Critics of the Indian plan said it offered little protection for personal data and caused problems among the poorest citizens, with some being denied medical care or benefits because they did not have ID.

Although telephone companies and banks have in some cases threatened to close accounts that are not linked to an identification number, the high court decision stated that this should not be mandatory for special services or education. Activists reported that it was also used to disenfranchise Muslim voters in the north of the country.

Starmer’s spokesman said the meeting was held “because it was useful to hear from the Indian experience, it had a very different beginning and a different system, but it is used 80 million times a day.”

When asked about some of the controversies surrounding the Indian system, he said the UK system will have a different design, with no plans to use biometric data so far. “One of the key priorities is inclusivity and that is what the consultations in Britain are about,” he said.

Starmer said the scheme was important in tackling illegal work as ID proof is mandatory for employment, but he hoped it would be a voluntary convenience measure for most British citizens.

The Prime Minister also hinted that the success of the UK’s migrant repatriation deal with France depends on the UK making a concerted effort against illegal labour. Right-wing parties have highlighted gig economy companies such as UberEats and Deliveroo, where migrant workers can use fake IDs to work.

“We need to make extradition agreements with countries, like we have with France, and we need to address the fact that too many people can come to this country and work illegally,” Starmer said. “That’s why requiring ID to work is really important.

“There’s a case to be made for the benefits of a voluntary ID document in other areas, and frankly we need to make that as well. I think that’s a really important argument for us. So on the one hand it’s essential for work, but I actually think it would be a good passport.”

The government has not identified any private providers who might take part in the program; Tech company Palantir said it would not do so because the plan was not included in the Labor Party manifesto and therefore had no authority.

All opposition parties have said they will oppose the plan, and there are serious concerns among some Labor MPs about the potential for snowballing costs and data breaches.

According to polling by More in Common, net support for digital ID cards fell from 35% at the beginning of the summer to -14% over the weekend following Starmer’s announcement.

Starmer will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday and deliver the keynote address at a fintech conference. The Prime Minister told a business delegation of more than 120 senior executives and cultural leaders that he hoped each of them would have an agreement to sign by the end of the trip.

Visiting a Bollywood production studio, Starmer announced that three new Bollywood blockbusters will be produced in the UK by Yash Raj Films from next year, creating more than 3,000 jobs.

No 10 said the agreements signed during the trip would create around 7,000 jobs through India’s investment in the UK. Speaking during a visit to a football ground, Starmer denied that business leaders were pressing for visa rules to be liberalised.

“None of them raised the visa issue with me. It was not part of the FTA (free trade agreement),” he said. “The purpose of this is to provide opportunities for them to benefit from the FTA and even before it comes into full force, the mood between India and the UK is very, very strong.”