Digital ID Cards

I remain unconvinced of the case for digital ID cards. They pose a threat to civil liberties, privacy, and the inclusive society we value; and risk creating a two-tier Britain, where access to essential services could become conditional on digital compliance.

The Liberal Democrats have consistently led the opposition to plans to bring in ID cards. The party campaigned against their introduction two decades ago because they were expensive, unnecessary, and a huge threat to people’s privacy.

The Government should not be wasting time and money developing a new centralised database of everyone’s private information. The case simply hasn’t been made for any benefits which might justify the cost and the threat to people’s privacy.

As you rightly point out, such schemes are often promoted under the guise of tackling fraud or illegal migration, but in practice, they impact everyone, especially the most vulnerable: migrants, the digitally excluded, the elderly, and those without stable housing. We’ve seen the consequences of ID-based discrimination before, through both the Windrush scandal and the misuse of digital passes during the pandemic. We should be learning from those mistakes, not repeating them with even more powerful surveillance tools.

The UK should not be taking cues from global tech elites with commercial interests in identity systems. Nor should we be adopting policies which echo authoritarian regimes under the banner of “modernisation.” Instead, we should be working to strengthen trust, inclusion, and universal access to public services.

I will support calls for a legal right not to be compelled into digital ID systems, and to ensure that no one is denied access to public services for refusing to submit to digital surveillance.

Instead of pursuing divisive and illiberal policies, the Government should focus on the major problems they have inherited from the previous Conservative administration: the health and care crisis, the sewage scandal, and the cost of living.