Overview
- Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced on Monday that he has cancelled the national digital ID programme first proposed by Keir Starmer in September 2025.
- Burnham’s office said the resources would be redirected to cost-of-living measures, but the Office for Budget Responsibility previously estimated the scheme would cost about £1.8 billion over three years and noted no specific funding had been set aside, so any immediate cash savings are uncertain.
- Reports say Burnham plans to dissolve the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and reassign its responsibilities, a move that TechUK and the Startup Coalition warn would fragment central tech leadership and slow programmes such as the AI Safety Institute and the Sovereign AI Fund.
- Digital inclusion and privacy groups welcomed the cancellation as a victory for public concern after a parliamentary petition of nearly three million signatures, while they cautioned that people without internet access could still be excluded and that other online systems might evolve into de facto ID schemes.
- The plan had already been pared back in January 2026 when mandatory right-to-work checks were dropped; next steps to watch include how the government reallocates budgets at the coming Budget and how it reorganises DSIT functions that currently coordinate AI, digital services, and government tech delivery.