Downing Street is now considering in detail the “workability” of a unique digital identifier for all residents that could be used to check an individual’s right to live and work in Britain as well as provide access to welfare, healthcare or housing.

 

One senior minister said Starmer had ordered a “comprehensive and expansive look” at the role technology can play in government, including digital ID. “Keir is leading on it,” they said. “This is a serious piece of work. After a year in government, it is clear that technology is underpinning everything. Digital ID is foundational.

Cabinet ministers say Keir Starmer has become increasingly convinced of the need to harness the power of technology to drive Whitehall efficiency, bear down on fraud and transform the relationship between citizens and the state.

 

https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/this-is-serious-starmer-orders-move-towards-digital-id-system

Bad idea. 

Someone once transferred money to Thailand to me and the bank manager asked for his ID number. After explaining British people don't have ID cards, she asked in an astonished voice, "Then how does the government know who he is?"

I said, "They ask him."

That's freedom.

On 8/17/2025 at 9:07 AM, Bacon1 said:

Downing Street is now considering in detail the “workability” of a unique digital identifier for all residents that could be used to check an individual’s right to live and work in Britain as well as provide access to welfare, healthcare or housing.

If I turn up on the Sussex coast in a dinghy with no documentation, will I be given one?

Will I get a UK bank account as well, 'cos as an expat it's almost impossible.

(I'm assuming the boat arrivals get bank accounts to pay their benefits into, but I may be wrong)

 

Just wondering ............

23 hours ago, Purdey said:

Bad idea. 

Someone once transferred money to Thailand to me and the bank manager asked for his ID number. After explaining British people don't have ID cards, she asked in an astonished voice, "Then how does the government know who he is?"

I said, "They ask him."

That's freedom.

 

I really don't understand this antipathy to ID cards.

 

There are many instances where an individual has to prove their identity, and there is no uniform set of acceptable documentation; a bank statement may be acceptable to some organisations and not others.

 

On-line the problem is even more marked with different usernames required for different parts of local and central government, etc. In many countries with ID cards, an individual can access almost everything using their ID card/ national ID number (and passing security procedures).

 

I also struggle to understand what additional freedoms the absence of ID cards provides? Imo ID cards simplify matters greatly for the individual.