PM’s plans for digital ID scheme is ‘ludicrous’, says first minister

The first minister has called expected plans for a compulsory UK-wide digital ID scheme “ludicrous, ill-thought out” and an “attack” on the Good Friday Agreement.

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is expected to announce plans in a speech on Friday.

In a post on social media, Michelle O’Neill said the proposal was an attack on the “rights of Irish citizens in the North of Ireland”.

Westminster sources have said that any proposed changes would respect the Good Friday Agreement.

A source said that the government intends any system will work in line with the rights afforded to citizens under the agreement and that the government is committed to the agreement.

The Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood was also critical.

She posted on X: “I won’t be supporting the Digital ID cards. Not because it’s called the Brit Card. But because it’s a terrible idea for many reasons.”

The practicalities of the scheme will be subject to a consultation, which will also look at how to make it work for those without a smartphone or passport.

The previous Labour government’s attempt to introduce ID cards was ultimately blocked by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

But earlier this month, Sir Keir said in an interview he thought the debate had “moved on” since then.

“We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago, and I think that psychologically, it plays a different part,” he added.

Reports have suggested the government plans to use a new scheme to check people’s right to live and work in the UK, with people’s individual ID checked against a central database.

These checks are currently based on physical documents, although routes to complete the checks online for some people have existed since 2022.

Plans for a digital ID scheme did not feature in Labour’s election manifesto last year, and the government has previously rejected a proposal for digital ID suggested by former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair.

But in recent weeks ministers have spoken with increasing enthusiasm about the idea, as they have come under increasing pressure to tackle illegal migration.

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has also talked about the scheme’s potential to improve access to government services.

He recently visited Estonia, where digital identity can be used to access services such as medical records, voting and banking.

Employers already have to check that prospective candidates have the right to work in the UK.

Since 2022, they have been able to carry out checks on passport-holding British and Irish citizens by using digital verification services that have been certified by the government.

A Home Office online scheme also exists to verify the status of some non-British or Irish citizens, whose immigration status is held electronically.

The government has also been phasing out physical permits for foreign residents with online-only eVisas.

It is understood officials have been looking at whether requiring a digital ID could provide a more consistent approach to verifying identity.

They are also thought to be exploring whether the scheme could reduce the use of fake documents, and make it easier to target enforcement activity.

Open Rights Group, a civil liberties campaign, said the rollout of eVisas had been subject to data errors and systems failures.

It added that the government’s proposals risked creating a “pre-crime state where we constantly have to prove who we are as we go about our daily lives.”