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

Add cost. It's going to be billions we are already skint

Not sure why you’re laughing.

At the moment the information is split between different computer systems. I had to change my married name and it was very aggravating to have to manually link up all the different forms of ID with my name change so this could be a welcome step on one hand. Cross departments wouldn’t talk to each other.

On the flip side, our government IT systems are always involved in a breach and have 3rd party paws all over them continuously as we don’t hire civil servants who can do the job.

If all that information was joined up it would be a huge gold mine for hackers. It’s a valid concern.

No different to having a passport or driving licence. Doesn't bother me.

I see no issue with it?

It does clarify that you work against SOC rather than being in the Mafia, certainly!
You forget that not everyone works in your industry so are not au fait with the terminology. Like a soldier coming on spouting TLAs.

It won't work for illegal immigrants. Most people employing them know what they are and do so because it's cheap.

This is just labour killing two birds with one stone and trying to look like they're doing something on boat crossings, while getting through a key labour policy. Let's not forget the last labour government tried to introduce them too

Hmmm it’s a slippery slope. This was predicted in Covid. It’s all about control. We have passports driving licenses, national insurance numbers?!!! I’m sorry but this won’t stop people on boats. The only thing that will stop them is military action and physically stopping them! Which can easily be done by the Royal Navy!
so no I won’t be having one

I just don't see the point. I have a passport and a driving license and am yet to be convinced what another form of id will add. I think it's the compulsory part I have an issue with. I didn't think we were that country.

Same. What’s with the cry laughing and insults. Is it a threat to Labour thing.

I don’t believe it’s to help identify illegal immigrants. That’s just empty rhetoric that they are using to try and sell it to the public. It’s all about control.

Of course it is, same MO as on other threads when Labour are criticised ie insult and mock

If you're struggling to understand that it's a point about use of resources, that's on you, not either of the people in the discussion.

It's interesting though that people who like this idea think they can simply say the people raising objections are stupid. The reality is that it's going to be very fertile territory for people and other political parties to talk about waste of money. The political implications of this when it doesn't work are significant, and while you can if you wish self identify as smarter than the people who are going to have a problem with it, they have the vote just the same as you do.

You said it was the norm in Europe, but you didn't provide evidence. Can you list which countries that have ID cards in Europe require people to carry them, as opposed to having a voluntary scheme like Ireland or a compulsory one where adults must have one but you're not obliged to have it on you like Poland?

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/730194

When I was young it was "the flag-waving right wingers" who wanted ID cards ("show your papers") and the progressive left who bitterly opposed them.

It is probably the biggest political sea-change in my lifetime.

Personally, I am opposed if only because given the civil service's record with IT projects I doubt if they could come up with an efficient and secure way of collecting, using and storing the data.

Plus, has the Treasury seen how much it's likely to cost?

Couldn’t list them as too lazy to Google but in the Netherlands( where I lived) it was compulsory for everyone over 14. It was not a big deal at all, you didn’t have to have the ID card, any standard government ID would do so driving licence etc. I was never asked by police but friends were mainly due to being involved in a misdemeanour, cycling without lights at night type stuff.

Before people blithely think it’s a good idea think about these two issues.

One, in a year of the M&S, JLR, Coop, and cyber hacks, when infrastructure has ground to a halt, and an almost entire country was blacked out last year, our government wants us to feel our most personal information will be secure on a digital platform? I don’t think so.

Two, add in the question of who builds the platform and who gets access to our most personal data? Let’s see, what firm CEOS have recently been invited to dinner at Windsor castle? What firms have been recently awarded govt contracts worth hundreds of millions?

Then look up Palantir, Alex Karp and Peter Thiel and realise your data is highly likely going to go to these men. Men who actively fund and support Trump’s slide into authoritarianism and men who are very hard core (so-called) libertarians who oppose govt funded healthcare (the NHS) and most govt funded services / welfare. Apart from the govt contracts they get.

You want your money and data to make these billionaires even wealthier? Look up Alex Karp and what he says…here is one snapshot:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/07/24/thiel-palantir-js-orig.cnn

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/palantir-allegedly-enables-israels-ai-targeting-amid-israels-war-in-gaza-raising-concerns-over-war-crimes/
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https://www.ft.com/content/510a2fab-887c-4e16-84d6-fa88540205a8
Alex Karp: I don’t think in win/lose. I think in domination.
He also said he wanted to spray fentanyl-laced urine from a drone on to all the analysts that were negative about Palantir.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/palantir-alex-karp-trump-private-prisons-profiteers/

Count me out for digital ID run by these companies and these men.

LOL.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash from the Labour Left over his proposals for digital ID cards.

The Prime Minister has announced his backing for a “Brit card” to verify people’s right to live and work in the UK as part of efforts to stop illegal migrants working in the black economy.

But the proposals are prompting criticism from backbench MPs who are concerned about the impact on privacy and warn that it could become a “dystopian mess”.

Clive Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, said: “This is what happens when you outsource your policy programme to the Tony Blair Institute, corporates and tech billionaires.

“Any trade unions, civil society organisations and campaign groups opposing this dystopian mess – count me in.”

Nadia Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, added: “If we’re going to reheat Blair-era policies, can we please focus on lifting children out of poverty? Instead of this divisive, authoritarian nonsense.”

The proposals were also criticised by Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader. Mr Corbyn said: “It is excessive state interference – and must be resisted.”

So will people be fine with Mumsnet requiring Digital ID to sign up and use their services?

Digital ID is being deliberately designed to be used by private companies.

The Online Safety Act requires a lot of website to provide ID to use them, and the government is constantly looking at removing anonymity and requiring age checks for social media.

The Association of Digital Verification Providers has estimated that a full mandatory national ID system would cost more than £2bn. We know from every government project that the costs quickly spiral so £2bn will likely be the minimum cost.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/25/digital-id-cards-a-versatile-and-useful-tool-or-a-worrying-cybersecurity-risk

Tg for a few in Labour with sense.

Are you sure? What about data breaches or a government you disagree with having full control of ‘digital you’?

From what I'm reading online it does seem confusing - you won't need a Digital ID if you aren't working, but you will need it to rent - the two things aren't mutually exclusive, though. Lisa Nandy in particular is giving mixed messages. You won't have to have it on your phone, you won't need to carry it, but you will need to produce it if challenged. This does feel rushed even though it's been talked about for awhile.

I am surprised at the split here on MN, every other political party, even the Corbinista Anti Labour Labour Party, has come out against the cards. And the petition over 670,00 opposing the cards too (you can find it on petition.goverment.uk).

Big Brother Watch UK had a good report on digital ID cards.