Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to retreat on plans to make digital ID mandatory for all workers in the UK, as he seeks to build public support for the scheme.
Ministers will press ahead with compulsory digital right-to-work checks for employers, but are planning to allow workers to offer other types of proof such as passports or commercial verification products.
The U-turn comes as the government tries to argue for digital ID as a way to make life more convenient for Britons and drive reform of public services.
Senior Labour MPs had privately expressed concern about the proposed mandatory element and ministers have concluded it would get in the way of efforts to persuade voters to support it, according to people familiar with the matter.
However, the decision will add to a mounting tally of U-turns by Starmer’s government, which has been criticised by senior ministers.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said on Tuesday the government’s new year’s resolution should be to “get it right first time”.
A government public consultation on digital ID due soon is expected to include plans to allow workers to use other ways to verify their right to work in the UK, people briefed on the situation said.
It comes after unease inside government about a public focus on illegal immigration and a desire by ministers to make a more positive case for digital ID.
Announcing the launch of plans for digital ID last September, Starmer described it as a tool to control illegal immigration by making it impossible to work without one.
“You will not be able to work in the UK if you don’t have a digital ID. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
However, ministers have now worked up an alternative proposal which would replace manual checks currently carried out by employers of documents such as passports with digital verification against government records.
Digital ID would be available to workers as one way of doing this, but they would also be able to offer employers biometric passports to check.
Commercial verification apps checked against Home Office data are also being explored as another way that prospective employees could prove their right to work in Britain.
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to mandatory digital right-to-work checks.
“Currently, right-to-work checks include a hodgepodge of paper-based systems with no record of checks ever taking place. This is open to fraud and abuse.”
The government spokesperson said it had been clear that details of the digital ID scheme would be set out following the consultation.
“Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up and effective, while also remaining inclusive,” they added.
It comes after Starmer promoted Josh Simons to be minister in charge of digital ID, tasked with developing the scheme as a way to drive reform of public services, including welfare payments and childcare entitlements.