Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to unveil plans for a mandatory digital ID system for every adult in Britain, in a move Downing Street says is designed to tackle illegal migration. But the proposal has already triggered fierce resistance, with critics warning it marks a dramatic expansion of state power, and could ultimately bring down the Labour government.
According to GB News sources, the Prime Minister will set out details later today for a government-issued digital ID that would, in theory, allow authorities to better track and control illegal migration. While ministers argue the measure is necessary to restore public confidence in the borders, opponents say it is an unprecedented intrusion into everyday life.
Among the most vocal critics is broadcaster and GB News contributor Neil Oliver, who told viewers last night: “I’ve been desperately furious about the concept of a digital ID card for a long time, and I’ve been anxious about the possibility of somebody actually daring to bring one forward. But here it is.”
Yet, Oliver said, he believes the government has misread the public mood. “I genuinely think there’s enough awareness, more than enough awareness out there in the general population; a sense that there’s going to be mass refusal, mass non-compliance. This government has rolled the dice… and it’s going to be a disaster for them. It could conceivably be what brings them down.”
Asked to explain the practical dangers, Oliver warned the digital ID would allow authorities to link and monitor every aspect of an individual’s life, from health and finances to social media posts and shopping habits – in real time.
“Everything about us, everything from health, everything about your finances… is brought together by this kind of platform. And everything can be used in real time to make judgments about you, about what you propose to do. Whether you get permission to put fuel in your car, buy a plane ticket, buy a steak in a supermarket… a decision can be made in advance,” he said.
“Anybody that submits to this, anybody that accepts a digital ID, is slapping handcuffs around their own wrists. It’s the end of freedom. It’s the end of choice. It’s the worst possible decision that any freedom-loving person could make.”
Oliver added that while digital IDs were once considered politically toxic, the government has “fomented problems” – including increased migration – to make Britons desperate for a solution. “All people have to do is not comply, and this thing falls flat on its face. And I am convinced that is what’s going to happen,” he said.
But the government’s defenders insist the digital ID is a practical tool, not an instrument of mass surveillance. Peter Edwards, former editor of Labour List, said: “I’d be wary of dismissing it before a bill has even been introduced. Of course, that bill could collapse under the weight of objections, but I think it will go through in some form.”
Edwards rejected Oliver’s claims of a “dystopia”, pointing to countries such as Estonia where digital IDs are widely used without the abuses critics fear. “All the data that we voluntarily hand over to the state already to make our lives easier – NHS appointments, tax-free childcare, benefits, and so on. We voluntarily log into stuff and hand over our details to make our life easier,” he said.
He also dismissed fears of a post-Covid “slippery slope” towards ever-greater control. “All the Covid restrictions have been swept away. That argument that it’s a slippery slope to more control collapses,” Edwards argued.
Despite Labour’s plans, opposition to digital ID is coming from across the political spectrum. Both Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage have stated their opposition to the scheme, raising the prospect of a rare alliance between left and right to resist the government’s proposals.
