Andy Burnham is expected to scrap Keir Starmer’s digital ID cards plan when he enters Downing Street on Monday, ending the Burnham digital ID push before it reaches rollout. Burnham’s team said the resources earmarked for the scheme will be redirected to cost of living support.
On Saturday, Burnham’s spokesperson said: “One of the first things this government will do is put its focus where people need it right now: creating breathing space and delivering change they can feel in their everyday lives,” and added: “That means all the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it’s most needed, such as helping with the cost of living.”
Downing Street on Monday
The same spokesperson said: “This government is determined to bring power back to communities, instead of hoarding it in Whitehall. We will work every day to lift this country back up to where it belongs – with growth in every postcode, and hope in every heart.” The proposal is being outlined to distance the incoming prime minister from unpopular choices made by his predecessor.
Starmer first announced the digital ID scheme last September as part of plans to combat illegal working. He said the proposed Brit card would be compulsory for those who needed to prove they were allowed to work in the UK, and that it would make it tougher to work illegally in the country and make borders more secure. The scheme was planned to be rolled out by 2029.
Office for Budget Responsibility
The financial side is less settled. The Office for Budget Responsibility suggested the scheme could cost about £1.8bn, but officials rejected that estimate. Starmer’s government did not set out a clear budget for the initiative, so the amount freed up by scrapping it is still a matter of arithmetic rather than a published figure.
The plan already drew about 3m signatures on a petition opposing digital ID cards, and the broader idea has run into resistance before. Tony Blair’s government passed legislation in 2006 to facilitate ID cards, but those plans never came into force and were scrapped by the coalition government in 2011.
David Davis on digital ID cards
David Davis said: “No system is immune to failure, and we have seen time and again governments and tech giants fail to protect people’s personal data. If world-leading companies cannot protect our data, I have little faith that Whitehall would be able to do better.” Alexander Iosad took the opposite view, saying: “Make no mistake, if the government announces a universal digital ID to help improve our public services, it would be one of the most important steps taken by this or any government to make British citizens’ everyday lives easier and build trust,” but Burnham’s team has already pointed in another direction.
For people who would have been brought into the scheme, the practical effect is immediate: the national ID cards plan is set to be dropped before it starts, and the money attached to it is to be diverted to cost of living support. The unresolved part is the size of the freed-up pot, because the published numbers do not match the government’s own budget line, leaving the shift more political than financial on paper.
