The UK government has dropped plans requiring workers to sign up to its digital ID scheme to prove their right to work in the UK. Instead, from 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 change of policy is the latest in a series of U-turns the government has made since it came to power – including climbdowns on welfare reforms, reducing winter fuel payments and inheritance tax for farmers.
Initial Plan
The Government had earlier argued that mandatory digital ID for workers would make it easier to clamp down on immigrants working illegally.
The scheme will now deal less narrowly with immigration, and the government will instead place more emphasis on the argument that digital ID can be a useful tool for the public when accessing public services.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the government was still “absolutely committed” to mandatory digital right to work checks, including through biometric passports, and said digitising the system would help crack down on illegal working.
“The digital ID could be one way in which you prove your eligibility to work through a digital right to work check,” she said.
“At the moment we’ve got a paper-based system – there’s no proper records kept.UK Digital ID
“It makes it very difficult then to target enforcement action sensibly against businesses that are employing illegal workers.” she said.
