ID cards to be introduced. What do you feel. ?

[Fishingboatbobbingnight]

I have worked in serious organised crime for two decades. This is one of the best bits of news I have read in a long while. I have also been involved in ‘small boat’ arrivals. The reason people will by pass several safe EU countries to get to the UK is ‘I can get lost if I don’t get asylum’ ‘UK has no ID cards’ . It’s a no brainer .. why why has it taken so long. ? If you want to have the services your country has to offer - through most of the world - from healthcare to the library- you need to show you are a bona-fida citizen. However , for some unfathomable reason , the flag waving right wingers are always the one to oppose ..is it because they are scared it will work and leave their thinly veiled racism floundering ?

Yes to ID cards = YANBU
No to ID cards = YABU

Possibly the daftest proposal by a sitting government since Sunak wanted to bring back National Service.

It's such a political own goal, and an avoidable one too. There's at the very least a significant minority of the population who really hate the idea. It wasn't a manifesto promise, so doesn't have the legitimacy that could lend. It isn't going to achieve the things supporters reckon it will, because the demand for illegal work won't go away in a society with these demographics. And it'll be expensive, either for individuals or the state, whilst also no doubt being badly outsourced to one of the usual suspects.

Without my ID card I can’t file my taxes, access healthcare or education, have a bank account. You have one because it’s legally compulsory.

I don't think it will stop illegal immigration because you already have to provide a passport/visa and NI number when you start a new job. But maybe having it digitally will actually work, I don't know.

There's always the risk of hacking but we have that already with the Passport Office and DVLA.

I hope though that it's accepted as ID by everyone and you won't have to find utility bills and bank statements etc to prove who you are and where you live. Dear government, may I request a solution for everything and not just workplaces.

Well yes. Not anybody but teachers, accountants, financial services, drunk drivers etc should be able to be verified against a central system by way of what? Fingerprints? But not an id card?

🤦‍♀️ The police could stop any one of them tomorrow, refer them to immigration if they aren’t carrying a passport and fingerprints will confirm their permission to work. They are already allowed to fine companies. In fact, employers can get an unlimited fine and a prison sentence.

It doesn’t happen because of lack of police resources, not the lack of ID cards.

It is not an ID card, it is a digital ID.

Your digital ID is available on any device that is allowed to connect to the central database. Gets around the needing a smartphone/device etc.

I don't really like it because of government outsourced IT systems errmmmm lacking robustness. Someone cancels your citizenship by mistake (or not). ...fun...

It's not proof of citizenship. It's proof of address / identity. You also have a birth certificate, passport, drivers license. They can't cancel your citizenship by cancelling your ID.

For example, I no longer have an ID in my birth country. Because I do not reside there. But I do have a passport as I am a citizen. Just like British people living abroad can still have a British passport.

I don't have a smartphone. I have no intention of getting a smartphone. Do I get a laminated cardboard version?

Keir Starmer is the son of a toolmaker.

As long as it can go on my phone I couldn’t care less. If I have to carry an actual card it would be annoying. I don’t see how the card itself is anymore of an issue than having my details on my drivers license.

Basically indifferent, lots of countries have them so not fussed from the privacy aspect but also don’t think it will be the magical want to stop illegal working.
it’ll probably be wildly over budget and delayed for years though, because we do that brilliantly.

I think it's a good idea. I've lived in countries where you've needed healthcare ID cards to access the free healthcare and it makes absolute sense. People keep banging on about controlling immigration and this is one of the ways we can do that by really getting a handle on the numbers and who is using what etc.

Nonsense. If they have to have it on them and they don’t, arrest them.

I am conflicted

fundamentally I believe that I shouldn’t have to prove who I am. I am a subject of the Crown, a citizen of the UK, and have committed no crimes. I pay all my taxes. The concept of presumed innocence/ presumed rights is important to me.

I don’t trust that any government system will be hack proof or that all governments will act honestly and with integrity. The thought of a Reform government with access to this much sensitive personal data horrifies me.

but I also see the benefits primarily around benefits and entitlements but also about employment. An inspector turning up to
a building site or takeaway and checking immigration status is an attractive proposition in the current vile discourse

I may have nothing to hide but neither should I have anything to prove.

Or what , Starmer will put you in jail for 31 months ?

I’m not really sure where drunk drivers fit into that list, but if they are arrested, again, their fingerprints and driving licence will confirm their identity.

If the others have started work in the last 20 odd years, then the chances are that they would have had to provide photo identification (passport or driving licence) to get their jobs. That’s what they use to get any checks done.

"Ok Don Corleone" heh

No way. I am starting to think seriously about making plans to leave Britain. This would be the last straw for me.

The only boy who could ever love me …

Depends if want to use healthcare or have a bank account? If you don’t you could take a risk 🤣

No, you just won't be able to access certain services. Just like you can't park you bloody car these days without downloading an app 😡

I think it's an excellent and straightforward idea. Hopefully someone will cotton onto the idea that drivers' licences can also double as ID cards, for those who don't want digital ones. I really see no downside and many upsides. We already lost all pretence to privacy years ago, unless you all are living in the woods, entirely off grid, thieving someone else's wifi?

Very true re timing and illegal working.

Obviously we already know they're not going to prevent illegal working, because they've not achieved that in other countries where they exist. But also there's a maximum of 3 years and 10 months until the next GE. I'd be amazed if they had this up and running before then, and there's bound to be parties promising to bin it if they get in. Farage would be daft not to take the opportunity being handed to him, for example.

How do illegal immigrants manage to access those services in your country? (assuming they are not issued an ID card upon arrival)

I already have a bank account and I don’t have to show my papers when going to the dentist !

An inspector turning up to a building site or takeaway and checking immigration status is an attractive proposition in the current vile discourse It won’t make any difference. Employers are already supposed to be checking that employees have permission to work; either through a passport or a biometric card. If they’re already turning a blind eye to that, then ID cards aren’t going to change that.