Government drops plans for mandatory digital ID to work in UK

The government has dropped plans requiring workers to sign up to its digital ID scheme in order to prove their right to work in the UK.

By 2029, right to work checks will be done digitally – for example by using biometric passports – but registering with the new digital ID programme will be optional.

This marks a shift from last year when the government first announced the policy and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told an audience: "You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It's as simple as that."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said "Good riddance. It was a terrible policy anyway."

The Liberal Democrats said the policy was "doomed to failure" from the start and called for "the billions of pounds earmarked for their mandatory digital ID scheme" to be spent "on the NHS and frontline policing instead".

The party's Cabinet Office spokesperson, Lisa Smart, said: "No 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said in a post on X: "This is a victory for individual liberty against a ghastly, authoritarian government. Reform UK would scrap it altogether."

Green Party leader Zack Polanski welcomed the news on X, saying: "The government have U-turned on ID cards. Good."

A government spokesperson said: "We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks.

"Currently right to work checks include a hodge podge of paper-based systems with no record of checks ever taking place. This is open to fraud and abuse.

"Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective, while also remaining inclusive."

Employers already have to check if someone they want to hire has the right to work in the UK.

Since 2022, employers have been able to do checks on passport-holding British and Irish citizens using digital verification services certified by the government.

There is also a Home Office online scheme which verifies the status of some non-British or Irish citizens, whose immigration status is held electronically.

The details of how digital ID will work have yet to be set out but it is expected to be based on two government-built systems: Gov.uk One Login and Gov.uk Wallet.

Currently more than 12 million people have signed up to One Login, which can be used for services such as applying for a veteran card, cancelling a lost passport or managing a lasting power of attorney.

Gov.uk Wallet has not yet been launched but would allow people to store their digital ID on their smartphones.

The digital ID would include name, date of birth, nationality and residence status and a photo.

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