Starmer says UK has been ‘squeamish’ over immigration as he launches digital ID
In a speech announcing the introduction of a digital ID card, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK has shied away from the truth about illegal immigration for too long.
Starmer was speaking at the Global Progress Action Summit in London, where he addressed the rise of the populist right, the growing threat of misinformation, and grievance-based politics.
He also directly addressed the topic of illegal immigration and confirmed the Labour government will introduce a new digital ID card that will be mandatory for all working adults to prove their right to work in the UK.
“We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and recognise where we’ve allowed our parties to shy away from people’s concerns and let the politics of purity patronise people,” Starmer said.
“You will all have issues in your own countries, but in Britain it is illegal migration… For too many years, it has been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally.”
“Frankly, we’ve been squeamish about saying things that are clearly true,” Starmer said.
“It’s not just that it’s not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages, but the simple fact that every nation needs to have control over its borders.”
“Our immigration system does need to be fair if we want to maintain that binding contract that our politics is built on,” he added.
Proving right to work with digital ID
The key benefit of the digital ID card introduced by Starmer is its ability to tackle illegal immigration by making it much easier for people to prove their right to work in the UK, and more difficult for illegal immigrants to apply for work and government services.
Starmer said that without a digital ID, people in the UK will not be able to work or use public services. Digital ID will also help UK workers to prove their identity and access key government services without needing to regularly provide documents such as utility bills or bank statements.
The digital ID will be available on people’s smartphones, similar to the NHS app, and there will currently be no requirement for people to always carry or produce their ID on demand, except for when proving their right to work in the UK.
Mandatory digital ID will be introduced by the end of the Parliament, with a public consultation to be launched later this year.
The government said its digital ID system limits the sharing of relevant personal information for the specific scenario in question and uses state-of-the-art encryption and user authentication to secure data.
