Starmer faces revolt by Labour MPs as he takes huge gamble on compulsory digital ID cards saying people cannot be 'squeamish' about tough rules

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Keir Starmer took a huge political gamble on ID cards today as he warned people cannot be 'squeamish' about tougher rules.

The PM confirmed the plans at a 'global progress' summit in London insisting it is an 'enormous opportunity' to get on top of illegal immigration.  

He moved to clear up confusion over whether the cards will be compulsory, saying: 'You will not be able to work in the UK if you do not have digital ID.'

Earlier Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy raised eyebrows by saying 'although all UK citizens will have a digital ID, it will not be mandatory for people to use it'. 'It will be entirely their choice,' she added.

The cards are expected to be required for 'right to work' checks by the end of this Parliament in 2029.

Some Labour MPs are already vowing to oppose Sir Keir's latest big idea, which comes as he struggles to stabilise his teetering government. Reform, the Tories and Lib Dems have also lined up against.

While the Labour leader has said that the digital ID cards will be free, he has still not revealed in detail how the scheme costing taxpayers billions of pounds to set up and administer will be paid for.

Critics have called his plan, first touted and then dropped by Sir Tony Blair when he was in office, a 'cynical ploy' designed to 'fool' voters into thinking something is being done about immigration. 

In his speech at the London summit, Sir Keir said progressives needed 'to look ourselves in the mirror and recognise where we allow our parties to shy away from people's concerns and let the politics of purity patronise people'.

'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,' he said.

He 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.'

Sir Keir claims his digital ID scheme will: 

• Curb the prospect of work for illegal migrants, a significant factor driving small boat crossings;
• Make it easier for the public to access the services they are entitled to and reduce the need for multiple separate accounts and pieces of paper;
• Reduce fraud and mistakes in welfare schemes;
• Take on the best of ID schemes around the world where digital IDs are used to automatically retrieve education records and qualifications;
• 'Revolutionise parents' lives' by enabling access to child benefits, health records and applications for nursery places';

Keir Starmer faced a furious backlash on Thursday over 'dystopian' plans to force millions of adults to sign up for a digital ID card - but he insists it is an 'opportunity'

Some Labour MPs are already vowing to oppose Sir Keir's latest big idea, which comes as he struggles to stabilise his teetering government

A poll has suggested only a quarter of Daily Mail readers back them - and more than 500,000 people have signed a petition against plans for new digital ID cards in the past 24 hours.

Experts have warned Starmer's proposal, also pushed by Emmanuel Macron in France, would do nothing to halt the surge in illegal migration.

While Civil liberties groups branded the introduction of a 'papers please' society 'un-British' - warning of a 'Big Brother'-like creeping of state power that could see older and vulnerable people could be 'locked out' from essential services.

But in a statement released ahead of his landmark speech later today, Sir Keir said: 'I know working people are worried about the level of illegal migration into this country. A secure border and controlled migration are reasonable demands, and this government is listening and delivering.

'Digital ID is an enormous opportunity for the UK. It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure.

'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.'

The left of the Labour party are not keen on the plan, with Clive Lewis and Richard Burgon already publicly denouncing it and demanding the scheme is 'stopped'.

All UK citizens will have a digital ID under new plans, but it will be 'entirely their choice' whether they use it, a Cabinet minister has claimed.

'The plan is to ensure that everybody has it, but you can choose whether you use it,' Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News.

She referred to debates over identity cards that go back to when Sir Tony Blair was prime minister between 1997 and 2007.

'We've debated it ever since. It's important, of course, that we protect people's civil liberties, and we have got no intention of pursuing a dystopian mess.

'But I do think for most people, this is a fairly common sense and practical measure.

'And like I said, although all UK citizens will have a digital ID, it will not be mandatory for people to use it. It will be entirely their choice.' 

She also said that introducing digital IDs will not change what penalties companies face for failing to check their employees' right to work.

'Companies already are meant to check on whether people have the right to work in the UK and face penalties for that... they will continue to face those penalties,' Ms Nandy told Times Radio.

But she said it would make it easier for businesses to do their checks.

'It makes it much easier for companies to be able to do this and to be able to check whether people are able to work legally or not, which means there is no excuse for not doing so.'

The cards will be free of charge, she said, and funded under existing spending plans.

Nigel Farage said the plan would 'make no difference to illegal immigration, but it will be used to control and penalise the rest of us. The state should never have this much power.' 

Whitehall sources say the scheme is likely to apply initially to all working adults, who would have to use the card to prove their identity in order to work in this country

Experts have warned the scheme will cost billions of pounds to develop - and could leave the personal details of millions of people vulnerable to hackers and state-sponsored cyber attacks.

Nigel Farage said the plan would 'make no difference to illegal immigration, but it will be used to control and penalise the rest of us. The state should never have this much power.'

Kemi Badenoch branded the idea a 'a desperate gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats', while Tory justice spokesman Robert Jenrick said Sir Keir would 'try literally anything other than fixing the root of our problems: our broken legal system that stops us deporting illegal migrants.'

A petition demanding policy is dropped has gone through the 500,000 barrier this morning.

A spokesperson for Reform UK said: 'This announcement is a cynical ploy to fool voters that something is being done about illegal immigration.

'It's laughable that those already breaking immigration law will suddenly comply, or that digital IDs will have any impact on illegal work, which thrives on cash-in-hand payments.

'All it will do is impinge further on the freedoms of law-abiding Brits.'

The Liberal Democrats said they would not support mandatory digital ID where people are 'forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives'.

Victoria Collins, the party's technology spokeswoman, said: 'People shouldn't be turned into criminals just because they can't have a digital ID, or choose not to.

'This will be especially worrying to millions of older people, people living in poverty and disabled people who are more likely to be digitally excluded.'

Those who do not want to carry a digital ID card or do not operate digitally could be given a physical card instead, according to The Telegraph.

Mandatory ID cards have previously only existed during wartime.

Former prime minister Sir Tony made moves to establish a voluntary ID card system during his time in office and has since repeated his call for their introduction.

A spokesperson for the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said: 'Digital ID can and should be a gateway to government services, whether that's reporting potholes or even voting.'

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill said: 'The British Prime Minister's proposal for a mandatory digital ID card is ludicrous and ill-thought out.

'This proposal is an attack on the Good Friday Agreement and on the rights of Irish citizens in the North of Ireland.'

The civil liberty group Big Brother Watch also warned against their introduction.

A petition started by the group has reached more than 101,000 signatures.

In a letter to Sir Keir on Wednesday, the group said: 'Mandatory digital ID is highly unlikely to achieve the Government's objective of tackling unauthorised immigration.

'The proposed schemes fundamentally misunderstand the 'pull factors' that drive migration to the UK and would do very little to tackle criminal people-smuggling gangs or employers and landlords who operate 'off the books'.

'Instead, it would push unauthorised migrants further into the shadows, into more precarious work and unsafe housing.'

Will I get fined for not having a national ID card, and what if I don't have a smartphone? How the scheme could work and the massive pitfalls it faces

How would Sir Keir Starmer's new ID cards work?

It is likely to be a smartphone app, rather than a physical card.

A previous UK scheme – ultimately abandoned – relied on a digital photograph which could be used to confirm someone's identity by measuring the precise distance between their facial features.

It is possible that any new scheme would require holders to also provide other biometric details – such as fingerprints.

Details on the card could be cross-referenced against a central database, holding tens of millions of records for the British population.

Because it is likely to be smartphone-based the project could also use the facial ID features widely used on phone handsets, in personal banking apps, for example.

However, the Government is thought to be some distance away from coming up with detailed proposals.

Detailed plans for what has been dubbed a 'Brit Card' could be announced by the Prime Minister as early as tomorrow. Pictured: Mock-ups of what the cards could look like 

Hasn't this all been tried before?

Yes. Tony Blair's Labour government passed legislation for a national ID card scheme in 2006.

Detailed plans were published when Jacqui Smith was home secretary, although by that time ministers had abandoned the idea of making the cards compulsory.

The scheme actually went into operation in 2009, when Alan Johnson was running the Home Office, with credit card-style cards which each carried a microchip.

The Passport Service issued the cards at £30 a pop to volunteers from October 2009.

But after the following year's general election the entire scheme was ditched by then home secretary Theresa May.

By then, £257million had been spent on the proposals.

Couldn't Labour's new cards just be forged like any other document?

Its resilience would depend on the type of checks that are built into the system.

A digital ID card would, theoretically, be harder to forge than a traditional document.

For example, a live cross-referencing with a central computer database of names and photos would be almost impossible to cheat – because the holder of the digital 'card' would have to look like the photo held on the database.

Less rigorous checks, however, would have the potential to be hoaxed.

It is simply too early to assess how successful Labour's project could be.

Will I get fined if I refuse to have a national ID card?

The Labour government's previous attempt at introducing a compulsory scheme did not include fines for failing to register.

This was mainly because the roll-out never reached a compulsory stage.

The legislation behind the scheme did, however, introduce a series of penalties for failing to update information held on you, such as home address or any change of name.

The fines were up to £1,000.

There were similar penalties for failing to surrender a card.

It is still unclear how Labour will proceed with the new scheme and how it will propose dealing with refuseniks.

What is it meant to achieve?

The card could be used to prove someone is who they say they are, and that they have the right to be in Britain.

Labour is interested in the programme in order to crack down on illegal working.

This would theoretically reduce the attraction of Britain to small boat migrants and other illegal immigrants.

It would also make life harder for foreigners who come to Britain legally but then fail to leave, and yet carry on working.

Further uses of the card could be in other situations where people have to prove they have the right to be in Britain – such as the 'right to rent' a property.

Where the project would become highly controversial is surrounding access to healthcare and social security.

Labour's last stab at a national identity card was first floated by then home secretary David Blunkett in 2001, when he referred to it as an 'entitlement card'.

At that stage, it was intended to allow people to prove they had the right to access the NHS or welfare benefits.

But there was opposition from doctors, for instance, who said life-saving treatment could not be denied on the grounds of nationality.

The NHS continues to have huge difficulty clawing back cash from foreign nationals who have come to Britain as 'health tourists'.

What if I don't have a smartphone?

It is far too early to say how Labour's scheme would deal with people who do not possess a smartphone.

This group is likely to include a large number of elderly people.

If they, or others, were penalised under the scheme it would risk being dubbed discriminatory.

A solution could be providing an alternative way to access the details normally held on a digital ID card - perhaps using a laptop or desktop computer - when necessary.

How much is it likely to cost the taxpayer?

Billions of pounds.

The IT systems would most likely have to be developed from scratch.

Depending on the specification of the card, it could require a network of centres across the country where members of the public provide their biometrics.

What are the potential problems?

If the system flops, like the last one, it would be an almighty waste of money.

The technology behind the scheme is likely to contrast anything the British government has attempted before.

The civil service's record on handling the roll-out of new IT scheme is abysmal – a slew of projects have run years late and billions of pounds over budget.

So this vast new undertaking would be high-risk, to say the least.

Then there are the huge civil liberties questions posed by a national ID card scheme.

Unlike many other parts of the world, peacetime Britain has never had a 'papers please' culture.

Many will feel it is an invasion of their privacy.

Pressure group Big Brother Watch has said the plan suggests Britain is 'sleepwalking into a dystopian nightmare'.

Then there is the question of data security.

The government has suffered a large number of damaging data leaks and hacks.

If a new database containing everyone's details was compromised, it would have the potential to be catastrophic.

Do other countries have digital ID cards?

Many countries including Estonia, Spain, Portugal, Germany, India, the UAE and France use digital IDs.

France has repeatedly claimed that the lack of ID cards in the UK acts as a pull factor for Channel migrants, who are able to find work in the black economy.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said it won't 'make a blind bit of difference to illegal migration'.