Overview

• The prime minister said the free digital ID will become the authoritative right‑to‑work check by the end of this Parliament, with physical alternatives for people without smartphones.
• Credentials will be held in the GOV.UK wallet app, with employers — and under proposals, landlords — verifying status against a central registry.
• Starmer framed the policy as cutting illegal migration by limiting access to jobs, while supporters highlight potential service benefits such as quicker access to government processes and age verification.
• Civil liberties groups warned of surveillance risks, data breaches and exclusion, saying the plan could drive unauthorised migrants into more precarious work, and a petition opposing it has surpassed 650,000 signatures.
• Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK criticised the scheme as ineffective or intrusive, whereas Labour‑aligned think‑tanks support broader digital ID adoption and have offered costed implementation models.