Sir Keir Starmer is set to abandon plans for digital ID to be mandatory in what has been branded “yet another humiliating U-turn”. The Prime Minister said the scheme would be compulsory to work in the UK when he announced it last year as part of efforts to tackle the small boats crisis.
But it will now reportedly be voluntary rather than mandatory when it is introduced in 2029. The Tories welcomed the move but said it was “yet another humiliating U-turn” from the Prime Minister.
Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood said: “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 backbenches.
“Only the Conservatives have the plan and the team to restore common sense to public policy.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage pledged that his insurgent party would scrap digital ID altogether.
He said: “This is a victory for individual liberty against a ghastly, authoritarian government.”
A government source said that the compulsory element “was stopping conversation about what digital IDs could be used for generally”.
The source told The Times: “Stepping back from mandatory-use cases will deflate one of the main points of contention.
“We do not want to risk there being cases of some 65-year-old in a rural area being barred from working because he hasn’t installed the ID.”
It comes after almost three million people signed a petition on the official Parliament website against the introduction of digital ID.
And a YouGov poll showed public support for the initiative plummeted after the Prime Minister’s announcement in September.
The reversal follows a long line of U-turns by the Government including on scrapping winter fuel payments for most pensioners and the farmer inheritance tax raid.
And it was reported earlier today that plans to slash jury trials could be watered down.
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks.
“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.”
