Featured Image Credit: Tony Blair Institute
Topics: Keir Starmer, UK News, Politics
Brenna Cooper
Adults in the UK will soon be required to carry a digital ID card under a new scheme drawn up by the Labour government.
The announcement is expected to be made in a speech by Prime Minister Keir Starmer tomorrow (26 September), as part of a scheme to tackle illegal immigration.
Nicknamed the 'BritCard', the scheme will require anyone starting a new job or looking to rent a home to show the card on a smartphone app.
The card will then be checked against a central database of people entitled to live and work in the UK.
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The government have not confirmed when the scheme would come into circulation, as it's likely the cards would be subject to consultation and would likely require legislation.
The introduction of ID cards marks a major shift in UK policy, as British citizens have not been required to carry them since the Second World War, with the scheme being scrapped in 1952.
The scheme is part of the government's clampdown on illegal immigration, following calls from French President Emmanuel Macron for the UK to reduce 'pull factors' for migrants to come to the UK.
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A total of 1,157 people have arrived on small boats in the last week, according to Home Office statistics.
Starmer floated the idea of Digital ID cards earlier this month, suggesting the system could play an 'important part' in stopping illegal migration.
"We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago, and I think that, psychologically, it plays a different part," he said in an interview with the BBC.
Meanwhile, Labour minister Harriet Harman told Sky News that digital ID cards would 'make it even more difficult for people to work illegally'.
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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also previously been positive about the policy.
Similar national ID card schemes have been successfully implemented in numerous countries worldwide, notably Estonia, which has used identity cards since 2002.
Anyone with a long memory will likely remember that Labour attempted to introduce ID cards the last time they were in power, under the Tony Blair government.
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Named the Identity Cards Act, the scheme was heavily debated and later scrapped in 2010 when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power.
John Major's Conservative government had previously attempted to reintroduce the cards in 1995.