Every adult in Britain will require a digital ID under plans to tackle illegal immigration.
Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Sir Keir Starmer said the government would make a “new, free-of-charge digital ID that would be mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament”.
Sky News earlier reported that the prime minister was due to announce his backing for the scheme in a speech on Friday.
The idea behind the so-called “Brit card” is that it would verify a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK.
The plans would require anyone starting a new job or renting a home to show the card on a smartphone app, which would then be checked against a central database of those entitled to work and live here.
It is hoped this would reduce the attraction of working in the UK illegally, including for delivery companies.
At the moment, workers have to show at least one form of physical ID in the form of documents, but there are concerns within government that these can be faked.
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly warned that the lack of ID cards in the UK acts as a major pull factor for Channel crossings, as migrants feel they are able to find work in the black economy.
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Sir Keir is expected to flesh out more details in a speech at the Global Progress Action Summit in London on Friday, when he will argue that relying on migration to plug workforce gaps “is not compassionate left-wing politics”.
The plan represents a shift in the government’s position, as last year ministers ruled out the idea following an intervention from Sir Tony Blair just days after Labour won the general election.
The former Labour prime minister has long been an advocate of ID cards and took steps to introduce a system that would begin as voluntary and could…
