Labour’s delegation of MPs are contending the future of digital IDs again within digital transformation policy. More than 40 Labour MPs backed introducing a new form of digital ID, lobbying ministers to curb unregulated migration and optimise public services, although the government has confirmed no plans to introduce them.
Digital IDs were popularised during the government of former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair and ex-Conservative leader William Hague. A long-time supporter of digital IDs, Blair has made recent attempts to steer Keir Starmer’s government into endorsing digital identification, believing new technology can drive efficiencies in public service, reduce costs and relieve public pressure points such as immigration, crime and benefit fraud.
The letter appealed to the public’s perceptions on illegal migration, stating the government “must be tackling illegal off-the-books employment, which is a major draw for migrants entering our country unlawfully”.
Under his premiership, Blair passed laws and began circulation of 15,000 mandatory ID cards which were later scrapped by the coalition government.
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change convenes regular meetings on digital identity and provides recommendations for policymakers building digital ID systems. Tackling illegal immigration has been deemed a major challenge facing many governments.
Labour has remained head-strong banning this approach in their manifesto. The letter reached a lot of signatures including from MPs of the Labour Growth Group, Red Wall Group and the socially conservative Blue Labour group. Rightly, the backlash to digital IDs has been on grounds of privacy and decentralisation.
That said, the government has been working on provisioning a digital driving licence later this year in a state-issued online wallet.
