Keir Starmer faces backlash over digital ID plan to stop boats

Campaigners criticized the government's claim that digital identification cards will stop small-boat migrants crossing the Channel, as Sir Keir Starmer pushes ahead with a scheme tied to wider asylum and immigration reforms. The Labour leader has suggested the proposal could be unveiled at the party's conference next week, with officials indicating finer details are still being worked out.

A Financial Times report cited sources saying the government is considering giving digital IDs to all people legally entitled to reside in Britain, whether citizens or those with lawful immigration status. The ID could be used for employment verification and rental agreements, though the plan's scope may be narrowed as policy work continues. Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, has floated the idea as part of a broader attempt to deter crossings, though critics say the assertion it would stop boats ignores practical realities.

Campaigners have criticized the claim. Rebecca Vincent, policy director at Big Brother Watch, warned that mandatory digital ID could push Britain toward a "Papers, please" society and burden law-abiding residents to prove their right to be here. "While Downing Street is scrambling to be seen as doing something about illegal immigration, we are sleepwalking into a dystopian nightmare," she said earlier this month. Gracie Bradley of Liberty said the new scheme would likely be "more intrusive, insecure and discriminatory" than the Labour government's failed 2006 plan to introduce ID cards. The plan to revive digital ID has also drawn comparisons to Tony Blair's nascent card scheme, scrapped when the coalition came to power in 2010.

Conservative critics have weighed in as well. Robert Jenrick, the party's justice spokesman, argued that most employers who hire individuals illegally are already aware they are not employing authorized workers. "Asking them to check ID cards rather than the current checks ... is not going to make a blind bit of difference," he said.

A government spokesperson said Britain remains committed to expanding technology to improve access to public services, citing existing systems such as e-visas and the NHS app. "We will look at any serious proposals that would help people access public services, including digital ID," the spokesman said.

Sources told the FT the plan would be reviewed but details remain fluid; the government could narrow or broaden the scope in later iterations. The debate comes as Labour seeks to present an immigration reform package ahead of the conference, with officials indicating the digital ID concept could feature prominently if ideas are forged into a broader policy.