Vote is a national first in opposing digital ID cards

CORNWALL Council has become the first local authority in the country to agree to write to the Government saying 'no' to its bid to introduce mandatory digital ID.

- LEE TREWHELA

Conservative councillor Connor Donnithorne proposed a motion asking for the council to tell the Labour Government it was against the introduction of the proposed digital ID cards. He told a meeting of the full council: "It may sound modern, it might sound innovative and it may sound efficient. It sounds inevitable, but that’s exactly why we should be sceptical of it. Convenience must never come at the cost of personal liberty." He said residents across Cornwall were "rightly" expressing genuine concern about the move. "It’s about the individual being in control of their identity, not the state."

Green Party councillor Drew Creek, who seconded the motion, added that the mandatory digital ID plan was fundamentally against British values.