Overview

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer said workers will need a free digital ID to prove the right to work, arguing it will curb illegal employment and deter irregular migration.
• Officials say the ID will live on smartphones and include a name, date of birth, nationality or residency status, and a photo, with no requirement to carry or routinely show it.
• Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer said the IDs would probably hold less personal data than online cookies, signaling a limited scope compared with past UK identity card plans.
• Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the government is exploring use of digital ID for welfare administration, including eligibility checks and tackling benefit fraud.
• Public resistance has surged, with media reporting more than two million petition signatures and opposition parties and civil liberties groups warning of privacy, security and exclusion risks.