All parties in Northern Ireland have objected to the implementation of a digital ID scheme, that will be introduced as part of a plan to tackle illegal immigration by Keir Starmer.
By the end of the Parliament, you will be required to have this digital ID for Right to Work checks.
It will be on your phone, but there will be no requirement for you to carry it with you, and you won’t be asked to produce it, Downing Street has said.
First Minister and Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill has called the proposal “ludicrous and ill-thought out,” in a post on X.
“This proposal is an attack on the Good Friday Agreement and on the rights of Irish citizens in the North of Ireland,” she added.
The DUP leader Gavin Robinson has also said his party will oppose the plans: “Labour’s plan to introduce digital ID cards is the wrong approach and it is not something DUP MPs will support,” he said in a statement.
He also highlighted concerns about the effectiveness of the scheme in stopping illegal immigration – the major focus of the policy that was announced on Friday by the Prime Minister.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna has called for an exemption from the scheme for Northern Ireland.
“Northern Ireland has complexities of identity, movement and governance. A one-size-fits-all digital ID imposed from Westminster risks ignoring those realities and undermining the progress we have made.”
“The truth is that a Brit Card won’t fix the actual problems we face. Here in Northern Ireland, where people cross the border every day for work, family and study, imposing this scheme could be especially problematic,” she added.
The Ulster Unionist Party have released a statement calling the plans an “intrusive state overreach that fundamentally threatens the rights and freedoms of citizens across the UK.”
“The party firmly rejects this nationwide Digital ID rollout. We view it as an excessive and ill-conceived initiative that compromises the fundamental right to privacy for law-abiding citizens,” a UUP spokesperson added.
Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood has her party “will oppose ID cards at every step.”
“The UK Government’s proposed ID cards are a backwards move. No one should have their job threatened or be turned into a criminal just for choosing not to have a digital ID,” she said.
