FILE PHOTO: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks at a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, England. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo
(Restores dropped words 'one of British voters' main concerns after the cost of living' in paragraph 7)
LONDON (Reuters) -The British government said on Friday it would require every employee to hold a digital identity document, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's latest attempt to tackle illegal migration and reduce the threat from the populist Reform UK party.
Addressing the Global Progress Action Summit alongside the leaders of Canada, Australia and Iceland, Starmer said his left-leaning Labour government, like others, had been "squeamish" about discussing voters' concerns on immigration.
That had allowed parties such as Reform UK to gain popularity, Starmer said, acknowledging that the party led by Brexit veteran Nigel Farage was likely to be Labour's main challenger at the next election, due in 2029.
"That is why today I am announcing this government will make a new, free-of-charge, digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament," he said.
BRITISH RIGHT-WING PARTIES CAUSE 'TOXIC DIVIDE'
"In the UK ... we have got a right-wing proposition that we have not had in this country before ... so the battle of our times is between patriotic national renewal ... versus something which is turning into a toxic divide."
Polling shows immigration is one of British voters' main concerns after the cost of living, and Starmer feels acute pressure to stop people entering the country illegally by crossing the sea in small boats from France.
But his latest plan drew criticism from political opponents.
"It's laughable that those already breaking immigration law will suddenly comply, or that digital IDs will have any impact on illegal work, which thrives on cash-in-hand payments," said a spokesperson for Reform, which is leading in opinion polls.
The government said the digital ID would be held on people's mobile phones and become a mandatory part of the checks employers have to make when hiring staff.
Over time, it would also be used to provide access to services such as childcare, welfare and access to tax records.
Identity cards are relatively common elsewhere in Europe, including France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain.
Britain, which has a poor track record in delivering major IT projects on time and on budget, said it would use the best aspects of digital IDs used in Estonia, Denmark, Australia and India in its design.
MOST BRITONS SUPPORT ID CARDS
More than half of Britons - 57% - support a national identity card scheme, polling by Ipsos found in July.
But around three in 10 were concerned about personal data being used without permission, followed by worries about information being sold to private companies and security breaches, Ipsos said.
Labour attempted to introduce an identity card when it was in power in the 2000s, but the plan was dropped on civil liberty concerns.
Identity cards were abolished in the UK after World War Two, and Britons typically use documents such as passports and driving licences to prove their identity.
Irish nationalist politicians in Northern Ireland, where many hold Irish rather than British passports and symbols of British rule are divisive, also criticised Starmer's plan; the nationalist first minister, Michelle O'Neill, called it "ludicrous and ill-thought-out".
(Reporting by William James and Paul Sandle; Additional reporting by Amanda Ferguson and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Catarina Demony, Paul Sandle, Toby Chopra and Kate Mayberry; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
