British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government has unveiled plans to introduce a mandatory digital ID system for adults in the United Kingdom, a move designed to crack down on illegal immigration and modernize access to government services. The so-called “Brit card” would be a free-of-charge, digital credential stored on citizens’ smartphones, verifying their right to live and work in the UK. The announcement, made on September 25, 2025, marks a significant policy shift and sets the stage for heated debate over civil liberties, privacy, and the effectiveness of such measures in tackling illegal migration.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Starmer detailed the government’s intent to make the digital ID mandatory for right-to-work checks by the end of the current parliament in 2029. Anyone starting a new job or renting a home would be required to display the digital ID via a smartphone app, which would then be cross-referenced against a central database to confirm eligibility. The government hopes this step will reduce the lure of illegal work, particularly in sectors like delivery services, and address what French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly described as a “pull factor” for Channel crossings by migrants seeking jobs in the UK’s black economy.
“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,” Starmer said in a statement reported by Reuters. He added, “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 digital ID would eventually streamline applications for a range of government services beyond employment, including driving licenses, childcare, welfare, and access to tax records. The government has already announced plans for a digital driving license, and the new ID would sit alongside it on citizens’ devices, much like contactless payment cards or the NHS app. For those without smartphones—such as older adults or homeless individuals—a consultation is planned to explore alternatives, including the possibility of issuing physical cards.
The plan is not without precedent, though it represents a dramatic policy reversal. The UK last had mandatory ID cards during wartime, with the final set scrapped in 1952. Efforts to reintroduce identity cards have surfaced periodically since, most notably under former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, who advocated a voluntary system in the early 2000s. That initiative was ultimately abandoned in 2010 amid fierce opposition from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, who cited civil liberty concerns.
Starmer’s embrace of digital IDs comes after years of Labour Party reticence on the issue of immigration. In an article for The Telegraph, he acknowledged that “left-wing parties, including my own, did shy away from people’s concerns around illegal immigration,” but argued it is now “essential” to address every aspect of the problem. He positioned the digital ID as a pragmatic solution distinct from what he called Reform UK’s “toxic” rhetoric on migration.
Polling consistently shows that immigration is the top concern among British voters, with Starmer’s government facing intense pressure to stem the tide of unauthorized arrivals—particularly those crossing the Channel in small boats. Home Office statistics cited by LADbible reported 1,157 people arrived on small boats in the week prior to the announcement. Starmer has stated that digital ID could “play an important part” in stopping illegal migration, a sentiment echoed by Labour ministers Harriet Harman and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, both of whom have publicly supported the policy.
Internationally, the UK is looking to Estonia as a model for digital identity infrastructure. Pat McFadden, now the Work and Pensions Secretary, visited Estonia in August 2025 to study its system, which has provided citizens with a unique number at birth since 2002. Estonians use their digital ID for everything from voting to accessing healthcare and bank accounts. McFadden told The Times that the UK’s digital ID could be applied “to the immigration system, to the benefit system, to a number of areas.”
Backing for the scheme has come from think tanks as well. A report by the Tony Blair Institute, published on September 24, 2025, argued that digital ID can “help close loopholes that trafficking gangs and unscrupulous employers currently exploit, reducing pull factors driving illegal migration to Britain and restoring control over borders.” Labour Together, a Starmer-aligned policy group, released a report in June supporting digital ID for right-to-work and right-to-rent checks, claiming it would enable “better enforcement of migration rules.”
Still, the proposal has ignited a firestorm of criticism from across the political spectrum and civil liberties advocates. Nadia Whittome, a Labour MP on the party’s left, blasted the policy as “divisive, authoritarian nonsense,” urging a focus on social welfare instead. Reform UK and the Conservative Party have dismissed the digital ID as a “gimmick” and a “cynical ploy” that would not stop small boat crossings. “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,” a Reform UK spokesperson told Reuters. The Liberal Democrats objected to the principle of people being “forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives.”
Outside Westminster, civil liberties groups have sounded the alarm about privacy and government overreach. Big Brother Watch warned, “Plans for a mandatory digital ID would make us all reliant on a digital pass to go about our daily lives, turning us into a checkpoint society that is wholly unBritish.”
In Northern Ireland, the proposal has met with especially fierce resistance, with Sinn Fein’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill calling it “ludicrous and ill-thought out” and an “attack on the Good Friday Agreement and on the rights of Irish citizens in the North of Ireland.” Many in Northern Ireland hold Irish rather than British passports, and symbols of British authority remain deeply divisive in the region.
Despite the backlash, the government insists that the digital ID will be both secure and convenient, emphasizing that for most UK citizens, it will be compulsory to have but not to show unless required for work or renting a property. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News, “For people who come here and want to work, it will be compulsory to show it. For all other UK citizens it will be compulsory to have it, but not to show it. People will be able to choose whether they use it or not.”
The rollout of the digital ID will require new legislation and a period of public consultation, with the government aiming for full implementation by 2029. As the debate intensifies, the UK finds itself grappling with questions of security, identity, and freedom—issues that have long shaped its national story, and which now take on a new digital dimension.
