KEIR Starmer’s plans for digital ID will “put the rights of all people in the UK at risk”, Amnesty International has said.
The Prime Minister announced on Friday that 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 controversial plans emanated from the Labour Together think tank, the group which propelled Starmer to power, and the Tony Blair Institute, the former prime minister's lobbying group, and are being billed as a tool to crackdown on illegal immigration.
The UK Government has insisted that the cards will not be called "Brit Cards".
Announcing plans for Digital ID, Starmer said: "Let me spell that out: You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It's as simple as that."
The Prime Minister added: “It’s not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages.
“But the simple fact is that every nation needs to have control over its borders. We do need to know who is in our country.”
But, human rights organisation Amnesty International said Starmer’s plans were a “dangerous overreaction”.
Starmer insisted that the plans would stop illegal working, but an immigration law expert said that the plans would not necessarily solve the problem.
Meanwhile, Age UK raised concerns that digital ID would disenfranchise older people and those who struggle with reading and writing.
Javier Ruiz Diaz, Amnesty International UK’s technology and human rights lead, said: “This is a dangerous overreaction by the Government that puts the rights of all people in the UK at risk. It endangers everyone’s right to privacy, equal and fair treatment, and will make people more vulnerable to hackers and scammers.
“Requiring all adults to have an ID card risks excluding vulnerable members of society, including those who are less digitally literate. There is also the risk to people’s safety through computer systems errors and falling prey to identity theft.”
Diaz said the Government should focus on “establishing a fair and efficient immigration system” instead.
The push for digital ID is being framed in terms of immigration, with Starmer saying during his speech: "For too many years, it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally because, frankly, we have been squeamish about saying things that are clearly true.”
However, legal expert Oliver O’Sullivan, director of immigration at Migrate UK, said that it was “interesting” the UK Government is pursuing the policy despite “overwhelming opposition to these cards in the past”.
“Framing them in the context of preventing illegal workers doesn’t fully address issues that most people held previously with civil liberty,” he added.
“Illegal working is often the result of employers who don’t check right to work, or don’t know how to do it correctly. Will digital ID cards reduce illegal working?
“Not if the main reason for illegal working is employers knowingly hiring a person without permission to work, or not doing the right checks in the first place.
“Right to work checks aren’t failing because of the documents involved.“
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said that the UK Government must be “more intentional about digital inclusion” if the plans go ahead.
“It's not just the millions of older people who aren't internet savvy or online at all who are losing out from the rush towards digital everything, it's also the estimated 8.5 million adults of working age who struggle with reading and writing and who are unlikely to thrive in a digital world,” she said.
"There will always be some people, of all ages, who for various reasons do not use computers so there will be a continuing need to provide good offline alternatives.
“However, we could reduce the numbers who depend on them with a government-led and co-ordinated programme so those who want to go online can do so. More fundamentally, there is a responsibility on decision-makers to ensure that everyone benefits from the advance of technology, whether they are digital natives or not.
“This means developing so-called 'assisted digital' approaches too.
"The sprint towards digital by default is chaotic, unfair and inefficient and it's only with Government leadership that we've any chance of getting the best from it and sharply reducing the numbers who feel totally excluded, among them millions of older people.
“If digital ID cards are coming this really must change."
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said that the UK Government will make sure everyone has one in the same way that every citizen of the UK has a National Insurance number, but that it would be up to people to decide if they want to use it.
Nandy appeared to be referring to a choice of whether to have the ID downloaded on to a phone or to use it for reasons beyond proving the right to work.
However, it is not yet clear how the scheme will be rolled out, but legislation will need to be passed in the House of Commons before it can be brought in.
