On September 4, 2025, the debate over digital identification in the United Kingdom took center stage as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that his government is actively considering the introduction of a digital ID system to help tackle illegal immigration. This marks the first time the prime minister has openly acknowledged the potential role of digital ID in addressing one of Britain’s most contentious policy challenges—how to reduce the incentive for people to enter and work in the UK without permission.
Starmer, speaking to BBC political editor Chris Mason, said, "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 added, "My instinct is it can play an important part. Obviously we need to look through some of the detail." The prime minister stopped short of confirming whether any new digital ID scheme would be mandatory but suggested that public attitudes had shifted since the heated debates over physical ID cards in the mid-2000s. "Two decades on from the row over New Labour's physical ID card scheme, the public was likely to look differently at a digital-based scheme," he said.
The government’s renewed interest in digital ID comes as part of a broader strategy to clamp down on illegal working—one of the so-called "pull factors" that draw people across the Channel in small boats. As reported by The Independent, ministers are examining how digital ID cards could be used specifically to limit illegal employment, which remains a persistent challenge for UK authorities.
Since 2022, British and Irish citizens have been able to undergo digital verification checks by employers using government-certified services, while a Home Office online scheme allows for electronic verification of some non-British or Irish citizens’ immigration status. However, officials are now considering whether requiring a digital ID for all could provide a more consistent and robust approach to identity verification, reducing the use of fake documents and making enforcement easier. The government is also exploring whether such a scheme could help target enforcement activity more effectively.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden recently visited Estonia to study the Baltic state's extensive use of digital identity—an approach that allows citizens not only to access government services but also to vote, bank, and manage medical records online. Estonia’s system is often cited as a model of digital governance, and supporters argue it demonstrates how digital ID can be used to streamline public services while reducing fraud.
Starmer’s comments represent the most positive remarks yet by a UK prime minister on the idea of digital ID, and they are likely to reignite a fierce debate over civil liberties. The last Labour government, under Sir Tony Blair, introduced plastic ID cards in the late 2000s. The scheme, however, was plagued by controversy and ultimately scrapped in 2011 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which also destroyed the associated database. Only around 15,000 cards were ever issued.
Supporters of digital ID, including the Tony Blair Institute, argue that a national scheme would prevent benefit fraud, close loopholes exploited by criminal gangs, and make it much harder to forge documents. Ryan Wain, executive political director at the Tony Blair Institute, told The Mirror on September 4, 2025, that digital ID would "kill the demand for dodgy employers" and that the government is right to push the idea forward. Wain described illegal jobs as Britain’s "dirty secret," worth nearly £180 billion, and blamed rogue bosses for exploiting undocumented workers and dragging down pay across industries. He argued, "Because our checks are paper-based, patchy, and easily forged... No wonder illegal working arrests jumped 51% last year. It’s time to pull the plug, and Digital ID is how we do it."
According to Wain, digital ID would provide real-time proof of entitlement to work, rent, and bank, effectively shutting down the business model of those who profit from the shadow economy. "Digital ID is universal, tamper-proof, and instant. It links immigration status directly to the everyday transactions that make life possible. It’s not just about border control; it’s about shutting down illegal work," he said. Wain pointed to Estonia’s success in tying digital IDs to payroll and tax, which helped reduce undeclared work, and to India’s Aadhaar system, which securely opened up services to over a billion people. "Britain, meanwhile, is still stuck in the 20th century," he lamented.
The government’s focus on digital ID also comes amid mounting pressure to find alternatives to housing the roughly 32,000 asylum seekers currently living in taxpayer-funded hotels while their claims are processed. Ministers have pledged to stop using hotels for this purpose by the next general election, due by 2029. In a related move, Starmer said he had asked officials at the Home Office and Ministry of Defence to "work at pace" to identify military sites that could be used as alternative accommodation for asylum seekers.
Not everyone is convinced that digital ID is a panacea. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch expressed skepticism, telling the BBC, "I think as a way of helping to control immigration, it is not really going to solve the problem." She argued that many people who come to the UK illegally disappear into the "grey economy or the black economy and work illegally," and that digital ID cards would not fix that. "Digital ID cards would not fix that," she reiterated, emphasizing that the government’s pledge to "smash the gangs or stop the boats" would not be fulfilled by such a scheme alone.
Civil liberties campaigners have sounded even stronger warnings. Groups like Big Brother Watch have described the policy as a potential "dystopian nightmare," claiming that ordinary people would be forced to prove their identity simply to go about their daily lives. Critics argue that digital IDs would not stop small boat crossings and would instead punish law-abiding citizens, eroding privacy and civil liberties. As The Independent reported, a public debate and poll were launched to gather opinions on the proposal, highlighting the deeply divided nature of the issue.
Meanwhile, the government continues to expand its enforcement toolkit. In March 2025, it was announced that checks would be extended to self-employed contractors working on behalf of companies, aiming to close gaps in the so-called gig economy where many workers are employed in temporary or casual roles. There are already significant sanctions for illegal employment, including fines of up to £60,000 per unauthorized worker, and the responsibility for checks on agency workers lies with the agency itself.
France has also weighed in, with President Emmanuel Macron stating in July 2025 that the UK had agreed to address the "fight against illegal work" as part of efforts to reduce pull factors attracting illegal migrants. French officials have long argued that the UK’s lack of a comprehensive digital ID system makes it easier for asylum seekers to enter the shadow economy.
With the stakes high for both immigration policy and civil liberties, the UK’s debate over digital ID is set to intensify. Whether the government can find a balance that addresses illegal working without encroaching on privacy remains to be seen, but for now, the conversation is very much alive—and the world is watching to see what Britain will do next.
