Overview
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a virtual ID that stores on smartphones to confirm a person's right to live and work in the UK, containing core personal details and a photo.
- Officials say the BritCard will not be universal, there will be no requirement to carry or routinely show it, and groups such as pensioners would be exempt.
- Conservatives including Kemi Badenoch, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, and the Liberal Democrats criticized the plan, while human-rights and privacy groups warned of a new surveillance infrastructure.
- Civil-liberties group Big Brother Watch called it a step toward a control society, and reporting noted an online petition against the proposal surpassing 900,000 signatures.
- Key legal and technical specifics have yet to be set out, and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney signaled parliamentary opposition while objecting to the “BritCard” branding.