Mandatory ‘BritCard’ scheme would fundamentally transform relationship between citizens and state as Labour pushes ahead despite civil liberties concerns
Sir Keir Starmer’s government is pressing ahead with plans to introduce mandatory digital identity cards for every adult in Britain, with an announcement expected at the Labour Party conference beginning 28 September, government insiders have revealed.
The scheme, dubbed “BritCard” by the pro-Starmer think tank Labour Together, would require all adults with the right to live or work in the UK to download a digital credential onto their smartphones, marking a dramatic shift in how citizens interact with the state.
“We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago, and I think that psychologically, it plays a different part,” the Prime Minister told the BBC on 4 September, confirming the government is actively considering the proposal.
The digital ID would be stored on smartphones through a government wallet app and would be instantly verifiable by employers, landlords, banks and government agencies using a free verification app. Under the proposed system, every adult would be required to “show” their card when taking up employment or renting property.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden visited Estonia earlier this year to study the Baltic nation’s advanced digital identity system, where citizens can access government services, medical records and voting through their e-ID. A Labour Party poll revealed 57 percent of members support introducing the digital ID card system.
The proposal represents a complete reversal from Tony Blair’s failed attempt to introduce physical ID cards in the 2000s, which cost £85 per card before being scrapped by David Cameron’s coalition government in 2010 after issuing just 13,200 cards.
Labour Together’s white paper calls for the BritCard to be “a mandatory, universal, national identity credential” that would be issued free of charge to all those with the right to live or work in the UK, whether British-born nationals or legal migrants.
Senior barrister Raj Joshi warned the scheme could fundamentally alter British society. “The BritCard is expected to launch within three years. It will be mandatory for all adults, cost the public around £400 million to set up, and a further £5-10 million a year to run,” he stated.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expressed support for the plans, saying ID cards could “help with illegal working enforcement” and “deal with the pull factors” attracting migrants to the UK. My long-term personal political view has always been in favour of ID cards,” she admitted.
The government claims the system could save £45 billion by 2030 through digital reforms, according to the GOV.UK Wallet announcement from 20 January 2025. Employers would benefit from simpler right-to-work checks, potentially avoiding fines of up to £20,000 per illegal hire.
However, civil liberties groups have mobilised fierce opposition. Seven campaign organisations, including Big Brother Watch, Liberty, and Open Rights Group, wrote to Starmer urging him to abandon the plans. “Mandatory digital ID would fundamentally change the relationship between the population and the state,” their letter warned.
An online petition organised by Big Brother Watch has already garnered over 100,000 signatures, with the campaign group arguing the scheme would turn Britain into a “papers, please” society.
Sir Keir Starmer is considering a mandatory digital ID scheme called ‘BritCard’ that would make us all reliant on a digital pass to go about our daily lives,” the petition states. “Mandatory digital IDs give the state enormous control and treat the population with suspicion.”
Critics point to troubling historical precedents. Joshi noted that in Nazi Germany, mandatory ID cards listed racial and religious backgrounds, with Jewish citizens’ documents stamped with a red “J”. “These records allowed the state to restrict access to work, services and movement—and ultimately to round up more than half a million people for forced deportation,” he warned.
The scheme faces particular criticism over its impact on vulnerable groups. Campaign groups argue that marginalised communities, including the elderly, disabled, and those on low incomes, would face reduced access to services if digital identity became mandatory.
Labour Together claims the BritCard would prevent a repeat of the Windrush scandal by providing everyone with proof of their right to be in Britain. However, academics from the London School of Economics argue this “fundamentally misdiagnoses” the Windrush crisis, which occurred despite victims having established legal status through the 1971 Immigration Act.
Britain currently stands alone in Europe without an ID card system, though it shares this position with Commonwealth nations including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which have all consistently rejected mandatory identification schemes.
The Conservative Party appears divided on the issue. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp acknowledged there was “a very strong case” for proving identity when claiming benefits or using NHS services, whilst warning about civil liberties concerns. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage condemned the concept in 2023, comparing it to “modern-day Communist China.
Junior science minister Kanishka Narayan stated on 16 September that the government is “looking at whether a new digital ID could help tackle illegal immigration, transform public services, and bring benefits to people’s everyday lives,” adding that “no firm decision, estimate, or assessment has yet been made.
Morgan Wild, Labour Together’s chief policy adviser, defended the proposal: “The state makes everyone, whether they are a British citizen or not, prove their right to work or rent. But we don’t give everyone with the right to be here the ability to prove it.”
The system would cross-reference stored identities against company tax records to identify firms with workers who had not completed checks, potentially targeting the estimated half of asylum seekers whose claims were rejected over the past 14 years but who likely remain in Britain.
Privacy advocates warn the centralised digital ID scheme would create a “honeypot for hackers and foreign adversaries,” posing significant digital security risks. They also note that Labour made no mention of digital ID plans before last year’s general election, accusing the party of introducing the scheme “through the backdoor.
As the Labour conference approaches, the battle lines are drawn between those who see digital ID as essential for modern governance and immigration control, and those who view it as an unprecedented threat to British civil liberties and the traditional relationship between citizen and state.
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