Key Takeaways
- The U.K. government plans to introduce a mandatory digital identity scheme.
- The “BritCard” proposal echoes the government’s failed ID card system introduced in 2006.
- Many of the same objections that killed the previous national identity push also apply to the latest proposal.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to introduce a mandatory, nationwide digital identity scheme in the U.K.
The so-called “BritCard” marks the latest attempt to introduce mandatory ID in the U.K. But the same objections that killed previous iterations of the idea still stand today.
ID Cards in the U.K.
Unlike many other countries, the U.K. doesn’t issue ID cards or maintain a unified national identity database.
Brits still need a national insurance number to work, and they need a passport to travel. But these systems operate in isolation.
Civil liberties advocates argue that siloing national databases prevents overzealous government surveillance.
In the past, when the government tried to centralize the U.K.’s national identity system, it was met with stiff opposition.
Labour’s Failed ID System
After the government passed legislation to introduce mandatory ID cards in 2006, a grassroots campaign to oppose the plans emerged.
The campaign group NO2ID captured the public’s aversion to the proposed ID system in a report to parliament.
“We believe that it is everyone’s fundamental right to assert who they are, who they choose to be, without being checked against an approved list; that citizens should not need the permission of the state to exist,” the report stated.
After several years of struggling to implement the scheme, the Labour government was ultimately ousted in a general election in 2010.
When the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government took over, all ID cards issued under the scheme were cancelled and databases destroyed.
Tony Blair Revives ID Proposal
In the 15 years that Labour was out of power, calls for a national identity scheme in the U.K. were largely suppressed.
But in the wake of last year’s election, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has sought to resurrect his failed plan for a nationwide ID system. Only this time, physical cards are out and digital credentials are in.
Not wanting to rehash old arguments and become weighed down by a policy that has proven unpopular among the British public, the government initially rejected Blair’s proposal.
But with a growing number of Labour MPs calling on the government to support digital identities, BritCard is back on the agenda.
Starmer Endorses BritCard
Speaking ahead of the Labour Party Annual Conference starting on Sept. 28, Starmer said “digital ID is an enormous opportunity for the U.K.”
Following a rhetorical line favored by Labour Together, the thinktank which proposed BritCard to the government earlier this year, Starmer argued that the scheme would help curb illegal migration. “It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure,” he stated.
A subsequent government announcement expanded on the proposal: “There will be no requirement for individuals to carry their ID or be asked to produce it—but digital ID will be mandatory as a means of proving your Right to Work.”
Resistance to the proposal falls along the same ideological lines that characterized opposition to Tony Blair’s scheme.
“Plans for a mandatory digital ID would make us all reliant on a digital pass to go about our daily lives, turning us into a checkpoint society that is wholly unBritish,” Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo said on Thursday, Sept. 25.
“Digital IDs would do absolutely nothing to deter small boats but would make Britain less free, creating a domestic mass surveillance infrastructure that will likely sprawl from citizenship to benefits, tax, health, possibly even internet data and more,” she warned.
Recommended Secure Partners
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
