Keir Starmer unveils Britain's Digital ID card system insisting that it will make borders 'more secure'

Every adult in Britain will be made to have a new government-issued ID card under plans to be set out by Labour today.

In a bid to tackle illegal migration, the PM's new compulsory ID would verify a person's right to live and work in the UK.

Unveiling the plan during a speech on Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said: "You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have a digital ID.

"It's as simple as that."

Read more: Digital ID is a chance to prove government can still work

"We won't solve our problems if we don't take on the root causes," the PM added.

However, critics say they think the “cards” won't make a dent in the migration crisis.

Former soldier turned aid worker Rob Lawrie said the digital ID scheme would “100%” not deter migrants.

He said the UK’s shadow economy is “too attractive” and “almost industrialised, It’s so big, people can easily access it".

He could “almost hear hackers rubbing their hands together with glee,” he added.

Sir Keir said that digital ID will become mandatory for right to work checks by the end of this Parliament and be available to all UK citizens under new Government plans.

“I know working people are worried about the level of illegal migration into this country. A secure border and controlled migration are reasonable demands, and this government is listening and delivering.

“Digital ID is an enormous opportunity for the UK. It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure.

“And it will also offer ordinary citizens countless benefits, like being able to prove your identity to access key services swiftly – rather than hunting around for an old utility bill.”

But Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy insisted it would help stop Channel migrant crossings.

She told LBC: “Digital ID makes it much harder for people to work in the illegal economy.”

She added: “We want to make sure that every person in the UK has a digital ID.”

Asked about people having to “show their papers,” she said: “I think it will make people able to travel more seamlessly with their interaction with government.”

Sir Keir admitted that Labour had "got it wrong" where historic decisions on migration are concerned.

Under the scheme, anyone starting a new job would have to show their “Brit card”, with their details then being checked against a database to show they can legally work in the UK.

The plans are set to be announced during Starmer's speech in central London on Friday, amid mounting criticism of the PM's leadership.

Starmer is expected to say: “For too many years it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally.

“It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages.”

The Prime Minister was initially sceptical of digital IDs, but has been convinced by senior government figures and world leaders, including President Macron.

Starmer is expected to add that social media has created “an industrialised infrastructure of grievance” on people’s phones, helping to create a world view “that is miserable, joyless and demonstrably untrue”.

Adding: “You don’t need to be a historian to know where that kind of poison can lead.”

Starmer is also expected to take aim at Reform leader Nigel Farage as part of Friday's speech, accusing him of putting “politics of predatory grievance” and “preying on the problems of working people".

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has long been a supporter of digital ID cards.

Last month, she said they could be used to prevent illegal immigrants from working and help deal with the UK being “a destination of choice for those that are on the move around the world”.

However, recent hours have seen Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch denounce the plan, branding it a "desperate gimmick" that will do "nothing to stop the boats".

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats were also seen to condemn the plan.

Lib Dem MP for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, Victoria Collins, who is also the party's tech spokesperson, said: "Liberal Democrats cannot support a mandatory digital ID where people are forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives.

"People shouldn't be turned into criminals just because they can't have a digital ID, or choose not to."

Those in favour of such a scheme argue it would send a clear signal that the UK is not "a soft touch" on illegal migration.

It comes as Silkie Carlo, Chair of Big Brother Watch, told LBC News that the idea is "un-British".

She added that making digital ID cards mandatory "completely reverses the normal relationship that we have with the state".

This summer, plans were put forward by Labour Together, a pro-Starmer think tank.

It sent a paper to the No 10 policy unit to examine its proposals.

Under the plan, every adult would be required to “show” their card when taking up a new job or renting a property

The app would automatically check their right to work against government records.

A system would be used to cross-reference the stored identity against company tax records to identify firms with workers who had not completed checks.

Labour Together argued it would help to clamp down on the vast numbers of people overstaying their visas.

It claimed half of those whose asylum claims were rejected over the past 14 years are likely still to be Britain.

The report called on Sir Keir Starmer to make digital identity a “top prime ministerial priority”.

It urges him to start a “fundamental transformation in the way British citizens interact with the government”.

The proposal has been backed by scores of Labour MPs.

It says it could cost up to £400m to build the system, with around £10m a year to roll it out as a free-to-use phone app.

The so-called BritCard “should form an important part of Labour’s enforcement strategy that does not compromise our principles and values”, a foreword in the report reads.

It added that previous government’s “hostile environment” made very little difference to the overall migration figures while having a disproportionately harsh effect on those unfairly targeted.

“The Windrush scandal saw thousands of people wrongly targeted by immigration enforcement, including many legitimate British citizens who were unjustly detained or deported,” it reads.

“We believe that a progressive government does not have to choose between dealing with these injustices. It must tackle them all head on”

Morgan Wild, Labour Together’s chief policy adviser, said: “The state makes everyone, whether they are a British citizen or not, prove their right to work or rent.

“But we don’t give everyone with the right to be here the ability to prove it. That leads to discrimination, unjust deportation and, as happened in the worst Windrush cases, dying in a country that is not your own. Through a national effort to provide everyone with proof of their right to be here, BritCard can stop that from ever happening again.”

The UK has only previously had mandatory ID cards during wartime.

The last tranche were scrapped in 1952.

Sir John Major’s government ran a consultation on reintroducing them in 1995, but they were never brought in.

His successor, Sir Tony Blair, then considered a voluntary ID card, but it was not fully rolled out amid objections from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

Sir Tony has since called for their introduction.

Responding to the announcement, a Reform UK spokesman said: "This announcement is a cynical ploy to fool voters that something is being done about illegal immigration.

"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. All it will do is impinge further on the freedoms of law-abiding Brits."