There is growing public support for a “super-digital identity card” which would allow people to access public services and report problems in their local area, a new report from Sir Tony Blair’s think tank suggests.
The report, which surveyed more than 2,000 adults, saw 62 per cent of people say they favour introducing a form of digital ID alongside an app that would allow them to report things such as potholes and missed bin collections.
Three-quarters of those polled supported the use of such an app to track the progress of applications made to local authorities, while some 69 per cent said they wanted it for voting or receiving official notifications, the Tony Blair Institute report showed.
Some 67 per cent said they would use it to report potholes, while 61 per cent said they would use the app to inform the council about missed bin collections or fly-tipping.
Ministers have recently said they are considering introducing a form of digital ID for adults in Britain, with the view that it could help to tackle illegal migrants who are working in the black economy.
They have looked to the example of Estonia, which uses a mandatory ID card system.
When Sir Tony was prime minister, his government attempted to introduce ID cards, but the scheme was quickly scrapped by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition amid fears of an erosion of civil liberties.
Alexander Iosad, director of government innovation at the TBI, told The Telegraph: “While helping to tackle illegal migration is a vital use case, we must get a digital ID that does more.
“After years of decline in public services, Britons are looking for common-sense solutions to make the state work for them. They don’t want to spend hours navigating opaque systems or wrangling paperwork just to get the services they are entitled to.
“Digital ID will dramatically simplify your experience of government. It will mean that reporting issues, applying for benefits, sorting your tax code, or booking appointments, are all done in a few taps, or even automatically, not in hours, days, or weeks.
“It is a crucial foundation for a new model of services that come to you, when you need them, based on fairness, control and convenience.”
Earlier this month, the home secretary said she has “always been in favour of ID cards”.
Speaking to broadcasters, she added: “In fact, I supported the last Labour government’s introduction of ID cards. The first bill I spoke on in parliament was the ID cards bill, which the then Conservative-Lib Dem coalition scrapped.”
She added: “I have a longstanding position of my own, which those who are familiar with my political track record will know that that is something that I’ve always supported.”
Speaking about how digital ID could be used to tackle illegal migration, she said: “As home secretary, I’m very clear we do have to deal with the pull factors that are making the UK a destination of choice for those that are on the move around the world, and I want to make sure that we can clamp down on that.
“I think that a system of digital ID can also help with illegal working enforcement of other laws as well. So, there is a broader piece of work here to be done by government, but I do think that that has a role to play for dealing with our migration.”
Asked whether this could include compulsory ID cards, she said: “The government’s position at the moment is to look at digital ID, further rollout. I’ll obviously be discussing that with my colleagues, some of whom are also, like me, new to the role, but we will be setting out our plans in the very near future about how we want to deal with the pull factors.”
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