Overview

• Starmer will outline the proposal on Friday, positioning a universal credential to confirm the legal right to live and work in the UK.
• Under the plan, new hires — and in some reports renters — would show the ID for checks against a central database of those entitled to work.
• Officials say verified checks could be cross-referenced with HMRC payroll data to direct enforcement against illegal employment.
• Civil liberties groups and opposition figures warn of privacy, security and digital-exclusion risks, with a Big Brother Watch petition topping 100,000 signatures.
• Ministers say the system would be delivered through a smartphone app with alternatives for non-smartphone users, though key design, safeguards and effectiveness questions remain.