Identity Cards: yes or no?

Are you getting your National Insurance and NHS Number mixed up, maybe?
NHS No is all digits.
National Insurance is a mixture of letters and numbers in a particular format.

www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/easyid

I use this, it's really easy to set up and the faqs should explain most questions. It's digital so you need a smart phone but the principle is the same. It's free. If you use it to prove your right to work for example, the company running the check will pay the fee and can only get the data you release to them confirmed.
It's also a partnership, so the tech is run by a govt certified and secure identity company. Your data wont be anywhere near Horizon!

Or you can buy a PASS card which is £15 and is accepted for voting.

I think passports should be free for all citizens at birth or naturalisation.

For immigrants, free BRP until they naturalise then see above.

The entitlement to NHS needs to stay separate as it is based on residency not immigration status/citizenship.

OK so what do you propose to do for those who dont have passports, driving licences etc to prove our ID when we want to vote, get a job etc?

No. No, no, a thousand times no.

The "nothing to hide" brigade don't see the dangers, and I agree with all the dangers already mentioned above. There would be function creep - there always is.

More than once, ID cards have been used in times of war to find out which people to kill. Something that seems so harmless - such as having details of one's religion on an ID card - can end up being lethal.

Can’t be done. The cards would be a nightmare to keep up to date esp since you want to add an address on there.

Having an NHS# doesn’t prove entitlement to NHS services as every expat has an NHS# but is not entitled to use the NHS.

Having an NI# doesn’t prove current entitlement to work either.

Right to work, rent, vote and so on depends on the visa- and when it expires or citizenship regardless of whether you have an NHS# or NI# yet or ever…

There isn’t a way to make an ID card that can be depended on to accurately list all current entitlements and rights.

For what its worth

1. We are increasingly required to prove our ID and entitlement to certain things, but
2. If you dont have a passport/driving licence its not that easy
3. Also if you are not a UK National it isnt always that simple for an employer/landlord especially if they are a small one to decide if you are entitled to work or rent property

So why dont we have a national ID card system? Coupled with a 'population register' so we dont get another Windrush scandal

Given that about 75% of the population has a passport and all the work that is going on with Universal Credit to prove ID IK dont see that rolling out an ID card over - say 10 years would be that difficult.

I would suggest that

There should be a 'cut off date' - I would suggest 1960 or 1965 so anyone born before that date would not have to have a ID card as that is where records etc might be more problematic.

As part of the roll out I would like to see applications for UK Citizenship to be free and requirements relaxed so that it is an 'inclusive' not 'exclusionary' process.

I suggest that the card would carry

NHS No
National Insurance No
Nationality
Confirmation of the holders rights in respect of employment, renting and ownership of property in the UK
Address

The function of the card would be to register for NHS Services, and prove the entitlement to work and rent/buy property

Private organisations could use it to prove the holders ID where required by law eg to open bank accounts.

It has been suggested that you should be required to carry your driving licence when driving. I suggest that if your licence is lost or with the DVLA the ID card could act as a substitute BUT you should NOT be required to produce it for any other purpose

Well, I think it will be compulsory digital records enforced by handheld facial recognition scanners by police, in hospitals, certain secure workplaces and so on.

Can't see why it would. Plenty of countries have them without it being compulsory to carry them at all times.

Your passport does this.

I think that ID cards are long overdue in the UK. I've never understood that reluctance of so many about them. They would solve so many problems when ID is required of people who don't have passports or driving licences.

Passports and driving licences are all well and good, but there is no legal obligation to have either. You only need a passport if you intend to travel abroad. You only need a driving licence if you intend to at least learn to drive (beginning with the provisional licence of course). There is no obligation to do so.

But having ID cards available doesn't have to mean that it's compulsory to have them on your person at all times. Those are two separate issues.

Me too. The card also had records of any covid jabs during the pandemic so no hassles with travelling, could be used to enter the country without a passport, records of health insurance, and utility and tax payments. Well integrated and very convenient.

I think they are a good idea.

All legal immigrants have the U.K. BRP which does this.

It’s true that it makes it very difficult to keep tabs on people who shouldn’t be here, like rejected asylum seekers for example. They just melt into the
informal economy.

A National ID wouldn’t fix this as you’d have to be a legal resident to get one. Rejected asylum seekers would not get one. It would be no different to now, where rejected asylum seekers don’t get a U.K. BRP (ID for legal immigrants)

My thoughts exactly

I personally think that British passports should be free and issued shortly after birth to all eligible babies born anywhere in the world (proper application Ofc) and the passport is the official ID. Passports are about to go digital anyway. We won’t be carrying those little books for much longer. So digital passport for all citizens and..

All legal migrants already have a form of National ID- it is a BRP and lists type of visa, whether can access benefits or not (no recourse to public funds), and is used to show right to work, right to rent, and access the NHS. Although right to work and right to rent is now done by digital share codes where the eligibility is checked real time with the Home Office in case the BRP is forged or tampered with. These are also going to go digital.

I don’t see a need to create another form of ID.

I think it is a great idea. I was disappointed Blair didn't get them in, as I was young looking at the time and didn't drive, so would have liked the id for pubs. Now I am old looking and don't drink 😂. Would be useful for people that don't drive and don't want to take their passports out. A card just fits in your wallet. As with others, I have lived in a couple of countries where it is the norm. Happy to pay too, you fo for passports and DL anyway.

Exactly! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Many older people give up their driving licence and may not keep up their passport either if they are no longer travelling abroad due to mobility problems or lack of access to travel insurance. Not having any valid ID can be a problem - I have had to show mine in the bank for example when opening a new account. So I think an ID card is quite a good idea for some people but it would need to be voluntary as you can't really make something compulsory and then expect people to pay a considerable amount of money for it as many poorer people would not be able to afford it.

How often do you need to produce ID to do those things? Can you produce ID to do them now?

Since when are we listening to what Gerald Darmanin is saying 😂
Believe me in France no one can stand him.

This said, we have ID Cards there (in France) they're free to make.
I'm not sure I get the point about the NHS number, I have one too, despite not being British. Same with driving license. It proves your identity but not that you're a british citizen.

I wouldn't want them to always have to be carried to be honest.

But to use them for voting, when you start a new job, if you move doctors surgery, for ID when buying age-restricted products etc. I think a single standard card is a good idea.