Burnham’s move to scrap UK’s digital ID plans earns cheers and criticism
Digital inclusion and civil liberties campaigners welcome the U-turn — for different reasons. But some are unhappy. London, United Kingdom — Shortly after King Charles
Digital inclusion and civil liberties campaigners welcome the U-turn — for different reasons. But some are unhappy. London, United Kingdom — Shortly after King Charles III formally invites Andy Burnham to form a government on Monday, the incoming Labour Prime Minister will scrap the UK’s proposed digital ID scheme, ending one of the more controversial policies of outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The decision, announced by Burnham’s office, does not end the government’s wider digital transformation programme. Instead, it abandons the proposal for a universal government-backed identity credential while retaining separate digital public services. The digital ID scheme, first announced last September, would have required all UK residents to hold a digital identity — dubbed “BritCard” — initially framed as mandatory for right-to-work checks. It faced sustained opposition from the start. A parliamentary petition against it gathered almost three million signatures, one of the largest in British history, prompting the government to drop the mandatory element in January in favour of a voluntary system. That compromise failed to end the row. Critics warned that the scheme threatened to expand beyond immigration checks into areas such as healthcare, banking and travel, while supporters argued it would modernise public services and reduce fraud.
Over the weekend, Burnham’s office said the estimated $2.4bn (1.8bn pounds) planned expenditure for the scheme over the next three years — around $807m (600m pounds) annually — would instead be redirected towards priorities such as “helping with the cost of living”. The decision carries a pointed irony. Burnham was the Home Office minister responsible for much of the early implementation of previous Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s original ID card scheme in 2006, before it too was scrapped in 2010. That had been criticised for projected lifetime costs running into several billion pounds. Campaigners declare victory — but say the fight isn’t over For Elizabeth Anderson, chief executive of the Digital Poverty Alliance, a British charity, the scheme’s collapse is welcome news, but for reasons distinct from the civil liberties concerns that dominated much of the debate. She said the proposal raised serious questions for the estimated 19 million British adults who are digitally excluded through lack of device access, connectivity or skills. Research by her organisation has found that one in five adults can only use online government services with someone else’s help. She added that the government’s proposed remedy — directing people to libraries and post offices for support — was “impractical if people needed to use this at home, on the move, or outside opening hours”.
The BriefWire