UK says it will introduce digital ID cards, reviving a contentious idea

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LONDON (AP) — British citizens and permanent residents will have to produce a mandatory digital identification card in order to get work, the government announced Friday, reviving an idea that has long been controversial in the U.K.

The government says the plan will help reduce unauthorized immigration by making it harder for people to work in the underground economy. It says it will also make it simpler for people to access health care, welfare, child care and other public services.

“It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “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.”

Britain has not had compulsory identity cards for ordinary citizens since shortly after World War II, and the idea has long been contentious, with civil rights campaigners arguing it infringes personal liberty and puts people’s information at risk.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to introduce biometric ID cards two decades ago as a way of fighting terrorism and fraud, but the plan was abandoned after strong opposition from the public and Parliament.

“There’s always been this feeling that Britain is not a so-called ‘Papers, please’ society, in contrast to continental Europe and other countries where ID cards are very common,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

“It has to be said, however, that given one is forced in some ways to prove one’s ID in myriad circumstances, both in contact with the government and in contact with the private sector in all sorts of ways, that actually a digital ID card would be quite useful.”

Starmer’s government said people would not have to carry their ID or be asked to produce it, but it will be mandatory to get a job.

The government said the digital ID will work for people who don’t have a smartphone, and it will hold a public consultation to work out the details.

Like previous Conservative governments, Starmer’s Labour Party administration is struggling to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in flimsy, inflatable boats operated by people smugglers. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel on small boats last year, and more than 30,000 so far this year.

Starmer has vowed to cut that number by tackling the criminal people smuggling gangs that organize the journeys, and by reducing the “pull factors” that draw migrants to the U.K — including a perception that it is easy to find under-the-table work.