Government signals U-turn on mandatory digital ID

The Government has appeared to row back on its flagship policy of mandatory digital ID, suggesting it will no longer be required to prove someone has the right to work in the UK.

Announcing the policy last September, Sir Keir Starmer told a conference in London that “you will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID”.

But on Tuesday night, Government officials would only say that ministers remained “committed to mandatory digital right-to-work checks”, with details of the digital ID policy being set out only after a consultation.

The apparent climbdown leaves open the possibility that other digital documents could be used to prove someone has the right to work in the UK.

Responding to reports of the U-turn, Labour’s 13th since taking office, the Conservatives accused the Prime Minister of “spinelessness”, while the Liberal Democrats said Downing Street “must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets” to cope with so many changes of direction.

The news comes just hours after Health Secretary Wes Streeting told a conference in London that ministers should aim to “get it right first time”.

Sir Keir first announced the policy on the eve of last year’s Labour Party conference, saying it would help curb illegal migration by making it harder to work in the UK illegally.

He told the Global Progress Action Summit in London: “Let me spell it out: you will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID.”

But on Tuesday, Government officials insisted it had always been the case that details of the digital ID scheme would be set out after a consultation.

A Government spokesman said: “We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks.

“Currently right to work checks include a hodge podge of paper-based systems with no record of checks ever taking place. This is open to fraud and abuse.

“We have always been clear that details on the digital ID scheme will be set out following a full public consultation which will launch shortly.

“Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective, while also remaining inclusive.”

Conservative shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: “While we welcome the scrapping of any mandatory identification, this is yet another humiliating U-turn from the Government.

“Keir Starmer’s spinelessness is becoming a pattern, not an exception.

“What was sold as a tough measure to tackle illegal working is now set to become yet another costly, ill-thought-out experiment abandoned at the first sign of pressure from Labour’s back benches.”

Support for digital ID collapsed in the wake of Sir Keir’s announcement, falling from 53% in June to just 31% in October.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart said: “Number 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns.

“It was clear right from the start this was a proposal doomed to failure, that would have cost obscene amounts of taxpayers’ money to deliver absolutely nothing.”