Keir Starmer was last night facing a fierce backlash over plans to announce compulsory digital ID cards for all British residents – something which even his own MPs have described as an ‘utter, dystopian disaster’.
The Prime Minister was said to have come up with the idea because he was ‘desperately thrashing around’ to find a solution to the small boats crisis.
The plans, which according to the Financial Times could be announced at Labour’s annual conference which gets underway in Liverpool next weekend, would see digital IDs being given to all people legally entitled to reside in Britain.
They would then be used for employment verification and rental agreements.
The concept of ID cards dates back to Tony Blair‘s time as Prime Minister, and remains beloved by those on Labour’s Right.
But those on the party’s Left, including its former leader Jeremy Corbyn, argue they would be used repressively by any future Right-wing governments.
Last night, Sir Keir’s political opponents were lining up to lambast him for effectively making law-abiding citizens pay the price for his Government’s failure to tackle the migration crisis.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Labour is desperately thrashing around for a solution to their borders crisis.
Keir Starmer was last night facing a fierce backlash over plans to announce compulsory digital ID cards for all British residents
Migrants try to board a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel on Friday
‘They are reaching for ID cards in a blind panic because they have lost control of our borders.’
Mr Philp added: ‘They should instead concentrate on ending the Human Rights Act for immigration matters and just deport all illegal immigrants and foreign criminals. That is the real solution to Labour’s crisis.’
And Reform MP Lee Anderson described it as ‘more smoke and mirrors from the worst Prime Minister in the history of our country’.
He added: ‘Digital ID cards will achieve nothing apart from allowing the state to spy on decent British folk. Starmer needs to go.’
Labour backbenchers have been just as critical, with Norwich South MP Clive Lewis describing it as an ‘utter, dystopian disaster’ and ‘part of a repression-ready, gift-wrapped surveillance state for [Nigel] Farage to pick up and run with’.
A spokesman for the free market Adam Smith Institute said: ‘The Government’s futile attempt at cracking down on illegal migration is supposed to involve the creation of a new digital ID, despite the fact there are already government-backed digital ID programs.
‘Such attempts fail to understand that illegal immigration and working practices exist in the other 170 countries that have a form of mandatory ID, digital or otherwise.’
A Government spokesman said it was committed to expanding the use of technology, adding: ‘We will look at any serious proposals that would help people access public services, including digital ID.’
