Britain is on the verge of abandoning plans to make it mandatory for workers to have a digital ID card. The times newspaper, the bbc and other media reported on Tuesday, which could mark another U-turn in the Labor government’s policy.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in September last year that his government would require all employees to have a digital ID in a bid to tackle illegal migration and reduce the threat from the populist Reform UK party.
The government said digital ID would be saved on people’s mobile phones and become a mandatory part of checks employers must carry out when hiring staff.
The plan drew criticism from political opponents, with some arguing it would not deter illegal migration and others warning it could infringe on civil liberties.
The times He said the government abandoned the plan amid concerns it could undermine public confidence in the plan, and noted that when introduced in 2029, digital IDs would be optional rather than mandatory.
Other forms of documentation, such as a visa or electronic passport, would remain valid. The times saying.
“We are committed to mandatory right-to-work digital checks,” a government spokesperson said. “We have always been clear that details on the digital ID scheme will be established following a full public consultation which will be launched shortly.”
The spokesperson said current checks are based on a “hodgepodge” of paper-based systems, with no record of whether they were ever carried out, leaving the process open to fraud and abuse.
If plans for mandatory digital ID are abandoned, it would mark another setback in Starmer’s policy.
In December, the government scaled back a plan to raise more taxes from farmers, months after backtracking on cuts to social spending and scaling back a proposal to reduce subsidies on energy bills for seniors.
