Keir Starmer unveils ‘Brit card’ to tackle illegal migration
The UK government will introduce a mandatory digital ID card – labelled the ‘Brit card’ – in a bid to make Whitehall more efficient and take control of illegal work by some migrants as Keir Starmer said the country had to take on “the politics of predatory grievance”.
The Prime Minister announced plans on Friday during a speech that Labour will roll out legislation for a mandatory ID card in order to work in the UK.
The policy has been trumpeted by think tanks and former politicians, including William Hague and Tony Blair, as being key to addressing illegal working and ease data loads across government departments.
During a speech to world leaders and policymakers at a conference hosted by the think tanks IPPR and Labour Together, Starmer said: “You will all have problems in your country but in Britain it’s illegal migration.”
“Every nation needs to have control over its borders. We do need to know who is in our country.”
“It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages. But the simple fact that every nation needs to have control over its borders.”
“This is the defining political choice of our times: a politics of predatory grievance, preying on the problems of working people – using that infrastructure of division against the politics of patriotic renewal.”
Plans have been in the works for months, with former work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden hinting that it could be introduced after he paid visits to Estonia where digital cards help people access public services.
Labour Together, the think tank which is linked to some of Starmer’s closest allies, published an extensive report on how a Brit card could work.
It said it would tackle visa overstayers and protect legal migrants already in the UK, costing the government at most £400m to deliver.
Its flagship report detailed a number of guardrails, including “sophisticated encryption”, that could protect British people’s lives.
Proponents of the policy said: “It could end identity exclusion, resolving uncertainty and risk for those whose status is uncertain, and providing a quick, secure, privacy-preserving means for everyone to verify their identity and their migration status when dealing with government, when taking up a new job, or taking on property.”
Keir Starmer to face opposition on Brit card
Polling by Labour Together previously suggested 80 per cent of Brits backed digital identity for different cases.
Democracy campaigners and civil liberties groups are likely to push back against plans, with similar plans made by Blair to introduce national identity two decades receiving backlash and eventually falling through.
Critics at Big Brother Watch argue that the system would “fundamentally change the nature of our relationship with the state” and create security risks amid a rise in cyber attacks.
It has also said people in marginalised and vulnerable groups would have reduced access to online services and undo values “that underpin a free society”.
Researchers have pointed to issues with the eVisa system and people’s lack of trust in the government as evidence that a digital ID would not be fit for purpose.
Immigration lawyers have also questioned whether a mandatory ID card will reduce illegal working as employers already need to make ‘right to work’ checks before hiring.
Emma Brooksbank, immigration partner at the law firm Freeths, said: “Digital ID will simply mean that compliant employers need to adapt their processes, and those who choose to ignore the rules and employ people illegally will continue to do so.”