LABOUR Government drops plans for mandatory digital ID to work in UKKate Whannel,Political reporterandHenry Zeffman,chief political correspondentGetty ImagesThe government has dropped plans requiring workers to sign up to its digital ID scheme in order to prove their right to work in the UK.By 2029, right to work checks will be done digitally – for example by using biometric passports – but registering with the new digital ID programme will be optional.This marks a shift from last year when the government first announced the policy and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told an audience: "You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It's as simple as that."Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said "Good riddance. It was a terrible policy anyway."Chris Mason: The climbdowns stack up for Starmer with digital ID U-turnShe said the move by Labour represented "another U-turn".The change of policy is the latest in a series of U-turns the government has made since it came to power – including climbdowns on welfare reforms, reducing winter fuel payments and inheritance tax for farmers.When the government first announced the policy plan, it argued that mandatory digital ID for workers would make it easier to clamp down on immigrants working illegally.The scheme, it is understood, will now deal less narrowly with immigration and the government will instead place more emphasis on the argument that digital ID can be a useful tool for the public when accessing public services.Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the government was still "absolutely committed" to mandatory digital right to work checks, including through biometric passports, and said digitising the system would help crack down on illegal working."The digital ID could be one way in which you prove your eligibility to work through a digital right to work check," she said."At the moment we've got a paper-based system - there's no proper records kept."It makes it very difficult then to target enforcement action sensibly against businesses that are employing illegal workers."Former home secretary Lord David Blunkett, who supported ID cards when he was in government, told the same programme the government had not explained why the policy mattered or how it would work, so it was "not surprising" to see another U-turn."The original statement was not followed by a narrative or supportive statements or any kind of strategic plan which involved other ministers and those who are committed to this actually making the case," he said."As a consequence, those who are opposed to the scheme, for all kinds of nefarious and very different reasons, some of them inexplicable, were able to mobilise public opinion and to get the online opposition to it up and running."Polling showed that public support for digital ID collapsed after Sir Keir's announcement, falling from just over half the population being supportive in June to less than a third of the population just after his speech.Nearly three million people have signed a parliamentary petition opposing the introduction of digital IDs.There has also been nervousness among some Labour MPs over the compulsory aspect of the original proposal.Whatever they think of the change to this specific policy, Labour MPs are growing increasingly frustrated with the government's U-turns.Some had already been wary of defending controversial government policies to their constituents because they feared that the policy would inevitably be reversed.One furious Labour MP told the BBC last night that the latest U-turn was "an absolute car crash", adding: "The boys at No 10 jumped into it with no thought, marched the PLP up the hill only to bottle it, take all the pain and no credit."The Liberal Democrats said the policy was "doomed to failure" from the start and called for "the billions of pounds earmarked for their mandatory digital ID scheme" to be spent "on the NHS and frontline policing instead".The party's Cabinet Office spokesperson, Lisa Smart, said: "No 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns."Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said in a post on X: "This is a victory for individual liberty against a ghastly, authoritarian government. Reform UK would scrap it altogether."Green Party leader Zack Polanski welcomed the news on X, saying: "The government have U-turned on ID cards. Good."A government spokesperson said: "We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks."Currently right to work checks include a hodge podge of paper-based systems with no record of checks ever taking place. This is open to fraud and abuse."Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective, while also remaining inclusive."Employers already have to check if someone they want to hire has the right to work in the UK.Since 2022, employers have been able to do checks ...
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