The UK is easing plans for mandatory digital ID cards after backlash

LONDON — The British government watered down its plans Mandatory digital ID cardsIt is a controversial idea promoted as a way to help control immigration.

It’s the latest U-shaped transformation policy By the centre-left government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which is under intense criticism from opposition politicians and the government. Labor Party MPs.

It will no longer be mandatory for citizens and residents to show a digital ID card in order to get a job, officials confirmed on Wednesday, abandoning a key provision of the policy announced in September.

Along with other documents such as biometric passports, “a digital ID can be one way of proving your eligibility to work,” Transport Minister Heidi-Alexander told the BBC.

The government said detailed plans for digital ID cards “will be drawn up following a full public consultation which will begin soon”.

“You won’t be able to work in the UK if you don’t have a digital ID. It’s that simple,” Starmer declared in September.

He said the plan would help reduce Unauthorized immigration By making it more difficult for people to work in the underground economy. He said it would also make it easier for people to access healthcare, social care, childcare and other public services.

He faced immediate backlash, with polls indicating a decline in support for digital ID after Starmer backed the idea.

Britain has not had compulsory ID cards for ordinary citizens since shortly after World War II, and the idea has long been controversial. Civil rights activists say this violates personal freedom and puts people’s information at risk.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to introduce biometric ID cards two decades ago as a way to combat terrorism and fraud, but the plan was abandoned after strong opposition from the public and parliament.

After the latest shift in policy, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Kevin Hollinrake, said that “Labour’s only consistent policy is retreat.” Liberal Democrat spokeswoman Lisa Smart said Starmer’s office “should be ordering large quantities of motion sickness tablets at this rate to handle all the bends.”