Starmer plans immigration crackdown with digital IDs

Every working adult in Britain will be required to have a new government-issued digital identity card as part of a fresh attempt to crack down on illegal migration.

- MILLIE COOKE KATE DEVLIN

The prime minister is expected to announce his backing for the “Brit card” scheme, which would verify an individual’s right to live and work in the UK, in a speech today.

The plan, which would require a law change to implement, comes amid mounting pressure on ministers to take more drastic action to tackle migration as boat crossings reach a record high and the asylum backlog is still above 75,000 – pressure exacerbated by the success of Reform UK in the polls.

But the leaders of eight civil liberties groups have warned that mandatory digital ID risks pushing “unauthorised migrants further into the shadows”.

Earlier this year, the government began looking at proposals for some form of digital ID for adults in Britain, with the view that it could help to tackle illegal migrants who are working in the black economy. They have looked to the example of Estonia, which uses a mandatory ID card system.

Sir Keir will today say progressives must not “shy away from people’s concerns” when he speaks at the Global Progress Action Summit in London alongside Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese.

Recognising the concerns that exist around uncontrolled immigration, he will say: "For too many years it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally”.

“It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages. But the simple fact that every nation needs to have control over its borders,” he will add.