Labour was forced into another humiliating U-turn on Tuesday night after abandoning its plans for mandatory digital IDs for workers.
Keir Starmer had vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by making digital identification compulsory to verify a person’s right to work in the UK.
But he has been forced into a 13th U-turn since becoming Prime Minister, and has watered down the mandatory element of the ID scheme following a public backlash.
Digital IDs will now be optional when they are introduced in 2029 – with workers allowed to use other documents to verify their identity digitally.
All other aspects of the scheme were set to be voluntary – meaning Britons will not have to adopt an official digital ID at all when they are introduced.
On Tuesday night the Conservatives welcomed the scrapping of the mandatory element of the scheme but branded the move ‘yet another humiliating U-turn from the Government’.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: ‘Keir Starmer’s spinelessness is becoming a pattern, not an exception.
‘What was sold as a tough measure to tackle illegal working is now set to become yet another costly, ill-thought-out experiment abandoned at the first sign of pressure from Labour’s backbenches.’
Sir Keir Starmer had originally vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by making digital ID compulsory to verify somebody’s right to work in the UK
Protesters march against UK Government’s plan to introduce a digital identification card in central London on October 18, 2025
Tory justice spokesman Robert Jenrick added: ‘This was always a terrible idea which wouldn’t have made any difference to tackling illegal migration. Starmer just lurches from one appalling misjudgment to the next.’
Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, which is campaigning against the policy, welcomed the U-turn, but called for Labour to go further and scrap digital IDs entirely.
‘The case for the Government now dropping digital IDs entirely is overwhelming,’ she said. ‘Taxpayers should not be footing a £1.8billion bill for a digital ID scheme that is frankly pointless.’
The Liberal Democrats mocked Labour for performing yet another U-turn, joking that ‘No 10 must be bulk-ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate’.
The party’s Cabinet Office spokesman Lisa Smart said: ‘It was clear right from the start this was a proposal doomed to failure, that would have cost obscene amounts of taxpayers’ money to deliver absolutely nothing.
‘The Government now needs to confirm that the billions of pounds earmarked for their mandatory digital ID scheme will be spent on the NHS and frontline policing instead.’
The Prime Minister announced plans to introduce digital ID on the eve of last year’s Labour Party conference, saying they would be mandatory for anyone working in the UK.
The plans were sold as a way of deterring illegal immigration by making it harder to work illegally in Britain, with Sir Keir saying, ‘We need to know who is in our country.’
Campaigners protesting outside Parliament last month ahead of a debate on Digital ID
Pictured: Mock-ups of what ‘Brit Cards’ could look like
Is Starmer’s latest U-turn proof the Government has lost control?
Comment now
Under the scheme, anyone starting a new job would have been required to show the digital ID, which would then be automatically checked against an official database of those entitled to work in the UK.
Read More
POLL OF THE DAY: Are you willing to have a Government-issued digital ID card?
The latest U-turn is the 13th of this Labour Government and comes after the Prime Minister backtracked on plans to raise business rates for hospitality firms and watered down his inheritance tax raid on farms.
A government source told The Times that the compulsory element ‘was stopping conversation about what digital IDs could be used for generally’.
They added: ‘Stepping back from mandatory-use cases will deflate one of the main points of contention.
‘We do not want to risk there being cases of some 65-year-old in a rural area being barred from working because he hasn’t installed the ID.’
A government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to mandatory digital right-to-work checks.
‘Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people.’
