ANAS Sarwar dodged answering whether he believes digital ID will stop migrants from crossing the English Channel.
Last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK Government “will make a new free-of-charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament”.
The scheme is being billed as a tool to crackdown on illegal immigration.
However, the plans prompted an immediate backlash, with Amnesty International suggesting the plans will “put the rights of all people in the UK at risk”.
And, a petition calling on Labour ministers to scrap the plan has reached two million signatures this weekend, describing the ID plans as “a step towards mass surveillance and digital control”.
Asked about the policy on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Sarwar said: “I think it depends what it is we're talking about. I have deep concerns, obviously, about all things related to civil liberties.
“For example, if there was an ID card that was to be used for stop and search purposes, I would think that would be a negative.
“If it is as it's being described, a digital ID system, for example, you get your driving license on a digital platform, you get your National Insurance card on a digital platform…”
Sarwar was asked if he believed digital ID would “deter illegal migration” across the English Channel.
“Well, if what we're talking about here is people having to give evidence that they are legally able to work, that comes from your National Insurance card and also other forms of ID and that exists instead on your mobile phone…”
Pressed for a yes or no answer, Sarwar replied: “Well, I think it's a multi-spoke approach.
“I think stopping illegal work and supporting legal migration is important, but there's wider issues about how we stop illegal migration.”
It comes after Starmer said he was “absolutely convinced” that one of the reasons migrants travel through France to reach the UK is that it is easier to work illegally here than in other countries.
Put to him on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that those prepared to hire people illegally will not ask for ID, he said: “We must be really clear. You must have ID, mandatory digital ID, in order to work, because we have to stop illegal working.
“If you look at any of the raids – we’ve massively increased the number of raids on working premises – it is absolutely clear that people are working illegally.”
The Prime Minister said the ID scheme means there will be an “automatic collection” of information so the Government knows who is working and can better enforce existing rules.
“But there’s no point people saying to me, ‘why do we need it?’ when we all acknowledge there is a problem,” Starmer said.
“People are working illegally in our economy. It is amongst the reasons that people want to come to the United Kingdom, we have to deal with that.
“I made a pledge that we would do whatever was necessary, use whatever tools were available to deal with illegal migration. I intend to do so.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said the petition to Parliament showed the level of opposition to the move.
She told the BBC: “People don’t want to see this, and also they don’t understand it. What is the purpose of it? Now, I know there are many other countries that have these ID cards, but that hasn’t stopped the type of working that we’re talking about.”
She noted that UK citizens and migrants already have a means to prove their right to work and expressed concerns about data privacy.
Ribeiro-Addy added: “Migrants already have these biometric ID cards, and actually, what’s going to happen? We’re going to have this card.
"We don’t know which private company we’re going to hand it over to and how much profit they’re going to make from this.
“All these issues of people’s data and their civil liberties. And actually, for what?
"The types of working we’re trying to stop are not going to stop – the cash-in-hand type working.
“Those types of people that create that irregular type of work, they’re not going to be asking people for their digital ID card.”
The plans envisage digital ID being stored on smartphones in the same way as contactless payment cards or the NHS app, but the UK Government has said people will not be required to carry it or asked to produce it.
