Digital ID cards present “an enormous opportunity” for the UK, Keir Starmer has said, as the government braces for a civil liberties row over the proposals.
The prime minister will set out the measures on Friday morning at a conference on how progressive politicians can tackle the problems facing the UK, including addressing voter concerns around immigration.
The proposals for a “Brit card” would require legislation and are already facing opposition from civil liberty groups concerned about privacy.
Addressing those concerns, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said the government had “no intention of pursuing a dystopian mess”.
Speaking on Friday, Starmer said: “I know working people are worried about the level of illegal migration into this country. A secure border and controlled migration are reasonable demands, and this government is listening and delivering.
“Digital ID is an enormous opportunity for the UK. It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure.
“And it will also offer ordinary citizens countless benefits, like being able to prove your identity to access key services swiftly – rather than hunting around for an old utility bill.”
The prime minister, writing in the Telegraph, said Labour had shied away previously from addressing concerns over immigration and that it was now “essential” to tackle “every aspect of the problem of illegal immigration”.
He argued that it was possible to be concerned about immigration while rejecting Reform UK’s “toxic” approach.
“There is no doubt that for years leftwing parties, including my own, did shy away from people’s concerns around illegal immigration,” he wrote.
Civil liberties groups reacted with concern over the proposals. Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, said digital IDs would turn the UK into a “checkpoint society that is wholly unBritish”.
“Digital IDs would do absolutely nothing to deter small boats but would make Britain less free, creating a domestic mass surveillance infrastructure that will likely sprawl from citizenship to benefits, tax, health, possibly even internet data and more,” Carlo said.
“Incredibly sensitive information about each and every one of us would be hoarded by the state and vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
“Starmer has no mandate to force the population to carry digital IDs and millions of us will simply not do it. The cost to the public purse will likely run into the billions, much like Blair’s failed scheme, but the cost to our freedoms would be even more serious. He is making an enormous mistake and should drop the plans sooner rather than later.”
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK called the plans a “cynical ploy” designed to “fool” voters into thinking something is being done about immigration, while the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, dismissed the plans as a “gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats”.
The Guardian revealed in June that Downing Street was exploring proposals for a digital ID card to crack down on illegal migration, rogue landlords and exploitative work.
The idea came from a Labour Together paper given to the No 10 policy unit proposing a Brit Card, which it claimed could help avoid another Windrush scandal.
The thinktank also said it would help reduce vast numbers of visa overstayers, saying half of those whose asylum claims were turned down over the past 14 years were probably still in the UK.
It proposed a free, secure digital ID, stored on a person’s smartphone using a planned gov.uk Wallet app, rebranded as the Brit Card app. That could then be verified by employers, immigration, banks and landlords using free software.
Under the possible plans, the technology is expected to be built on the government’s existing “One Login” infrastructure, which allows citizens to access about 50 government services, from applying for a job as a teacher to using a lasting power of attorney.
