Keir Starmer’s ‘BritCard’ Proposal Sparks Debate Over UK Immigration Control
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to launch the ‘BritCard’, a digital identity card aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration and unregulated work in the UK.
The card will allow citizens to prove their right to live and work, accessed via a smartphone app. But questions remain about how the scheme will work in practice.
1. What’s the BritCard actually for?
The so-called Brit-Card will allow the verification of a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK.
It would be accessed via the Gov.UK Wallet – the smartphone-based service currently being rolled out by the Government – which gives people access to all their government-related documents in one place.
Under the proposals, anyone starting a new job or looking to rent a home would be required to show the card on a smartphone app. It would then be verified against a central database of people entitled to live and work in the UK.
Ministers believe this could help reduce the incentives for people to enter the UK illegally because it would make it harder for them to live and work here in the so-called black economy.
2. Who would need to carry one?
The proposal was first set out in detail by Labour Together, a think tank close to the Starmer administration.
In a June report, the group argued for the digital ID to be mandatory and free for everyone over the age of 16 in the UK – much like similar ID schemes in other countries.
“If the scheme were only voluntary, then it would have little impact on acting as a deterrent for illegal working and migration.”
The rollout is expected to be phased, starting with new job hires and rental agreements, gradually impacting the wider population as people move jobs or homes.
3. Are there penalties if you don’t have it?
There is no suggestion that people will be stopped on the street and asked to produce their ID.
The idea is that you would have to show the ID when signing a new work contract or tenancy agreement. Without it, employers or landlords would not allow the contract to proceed.
Companies are already fined by the Home Office if found employing illegal workers. This scheme would make it easier to monitor compliance.
Civil liberty groups warn it could be “harmful to privacy, equality and civil liberties” by storing personal data that could, in theory, be used for surveillance.
4. What about people without smartphones?
The Government has not yet explained how the scheme will work for those without smartphones or who need assistance with digital technology.
There would likely need to be an alternative, non-digital option. In France, for example, ID cards are physical, with a chip containing digital information, alongside an app-based version.
5. When could we see it in action?
Starmer is expected to confirm the policy imminently.
The measures would require new legislation in the House of Commons and the Lords. The Government hopes to introduce the law as early as this autumn, though the timetable could slip due to legal complexities.
6. Why hasn’t the UK had this before?
The UK previously had mandatory ID cards during wartime, scrapped in the 1950s.
Attempts to reintroduce ID cards in the 1990s under John Major, and later a voluntary scheme under Tony Blair, were never fully implemented due to political opposition.
