Kemi Badenoch's recent ridiculing of the prime minister over a supposed U-turn on digital ID plans (Keir Starmer denies change to digital ID plan is yet another U-turn, 14 January) is the latest example of a frustratingly narrow view of leadership. To the Conservative leader, adapting a policy is a sign of no sense of direction; to those of us who work in product management, it looks like necessary iteration of the process.
This is from her shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood. While we welcome the scrapping of any mandatory identification, this is yet another humiliating U-turn from the government. Keir Starmer's spinelessness is becoming a pattern, not an exception. What was sold as a tough measure to tackle illegal working is now set to become yet another costly, ill-thought-out experiment abandoned at the first sign of pressure from Labour's backbenches.
In the past few years, governments across the world have rolled out different digital identification options, and now there are efforts encouraging online companies to implement identity and age verification requirements with digital ID in mind. This blog is the third in a short series that explains digital ID and the pending use case of age verification. Here, we cover alternative frameworks on age controls, updates on parental controls, and the importance of digital privacy in an increasingly hostile climate politically.
It will be based on two government-built systems - Gov.uk One Login and Gov.uk Wallet. One Login is a single account for accessing public services online, which the government says more than 12 million people have already signed up to. By this time next year that might be as many as 20 million, as people registering as company directors will have to verify their identity through One Login from 18 November.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
Former military personnel will be used to test and refine the government's divisive digital ID scheme from Friday, when ministers make a smartphone-based veteran card available to 1.8 million people. The proof of service, which in its current physical version gives access to charities, retail discounts and certain public services, will be the first of a series of official credentials the government wants to let people carry in a government app. Digital driving licences will be in development by the end of this year and by the end of 2027, digital versions of every government-issued credential including disclosure and barring checks will be offered for voluntary use, officials said.
The aim is for the ID cards to be rolled out before the next election and initially used to prove people's right to work, before being expanded to store health and benefits data to streamline access to public services and tackle fraud. Ministers have told MPs there is a firm commitment to build the digital ID within the public sector and not contract it out to private companies.
On his first visit to India since becoming the United Kingdom's prime minister last year, Keir Starmer has met with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in Mumbai, the country's financial capital, alongside a caravan of British business and cultural leaders. In particular, Starmer wants to know more about India's mammoth digital ID system which logs the world's largest population, with more than 1.3 billion cards issued two weeks after announcing a controversial digital ID system for the UK.
The UK government is planning to introduce a digital ID scheme to simplify how people prove their identity. While it could make the process of buying a house quicker, experts warn there are risks around security and accessibility. Industry leaders are also exploring the idea of a "property passport" linked to digital IDs, which could hold verified information about a property's history.
Public support for digital IDs has collapsed after Keir Starmer announced plans for their introduction, in what has been described as a symptom of the prime minister's reverse Midas touch. Net support for digital ID cards fell from 35% in the early summer to -14% at the weekend after Starmer's announcement, according to polling by More in Common. The findings suggest that the proposal has suffered considerably from its association with an unpopular government.
But Keir Starmer, with the backing of the Tony Blair Institute, believes it is time for the UK to join the other countries, such as Estonia and India, that already have a mandatory digital ID credential. Downing Street argues it will speed up citizens' access to government services and will help employers determine whether people have the right to work in the UK.
During his speech the prime minister attacked "lies" that are being told about Britain and mocked figures who sought to portray London as "the wasteland of anarchy". His comments come only days after US President Donald Trump claimed that London had "changed" and would "go to sharia law" as part of an ongoing feud with the capital's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan.
But leader Sir Ed Davey said "times have changed" and the party should look at the issue again and not be "knee-jerk" in its opposition. He said he had been impressed by a visit to Estonia, where a liberal government had brought in digital ID that he said was "very different" to the scheme proposed by Tony Blair when he was prime minister.
