Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Friday that the United Kingdom will soon require digital identification for people to be authorized to work in the country. The prime minister indicated that digital identification will help the United Kingdom address the issue of illegal immigration.
Addressing the Global Progressive Action Conference in London on Friday, the U.K. prime minister said, “For too many years, it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy, and remain here illegally, because frankly, we’ve been squeamish about saying things that are clearly true.”
In his speech on Friday, Starmer emphasized the importance of the United Kingdom knowing who is in the country, having control over its own borders, and building a fair system for immigration. The prime minister warned that if the immigration system is not fair, it “undermines trust, undermines people’s faith that we’re on their side, and their belief that the state can and will work for them.”
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“And that is why, today, I am announcing this government will make a new free-of-charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this Parliament,” Starmer stated. “Let me spell that out: you will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It’s as simple as that.”
According to the United Kingdom’s website, the government believes that digital identification will allow people to “securely prove who they are” to quickly obtain licenses and services without having to provide physical documents.
Starmer’s announcement regarding the implementation of mandatory digital identification has sparked controversy online. A petition demanding that the government of the United Kingdom agree not to implement digital identification received over 2.4 million signatures as of Monday morning.
In response to the prime minister’s announcement on Friday, Nigel Farage, a member of Parliament and the leader of Reform U.K., explained that the country already uses digital identification to allow foreign workers to legally work in the U.K.
“We don’t need digital ID,” Farage tweeted. “What’s the real reason behind Starmer’s push for digital ID?
Ralph Babet, a senator for Victoria in the Australian Parliament, also issued a statement on Friday, warning that the implementation of digital identification is part of the “globalist playbook in action.”
“1. Create a problem or allow one to fester. 2. Wait for the public outcry. 3. Roll out the solution you planned all along. Every crisis – real or manufactured – becomes a pretext for measures you could never pass in calmer times,” Babet wrote. “Digital ID isn’t about security. It’s about control. And it’s being pushed across nations simultaneously for a reason. Think. Question. Resist.”
