Overview

• Ministers say employers and landlords would check a digital ID against a central entitlement database, with audits cross-referenced to HMRC payroll data to strengthen enforcement.
• Keir Starmer calls digital ID an “enormous opportunity” that will make illegal working harder, with details expected in a speech at the Global Progress Action Summit in London today.
• Downing Street says the credential would be available to citizens and legal residents by the end of this Parliament, using the GOV.UK app and Wallet now in pilot, with non‑smartphone alternatives proposed.
• Eight civil liberties groups warn a mandatory scheme could harm privacy and push unauthorised migrants further underground, as Big Brother Watch’s petition surpasses 100,000 signatures.
• Opposition figures including Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage criticise the proposal, while the Liberal Democrats signal they cannot support a compulsory system without strong safeguards.