Why I Oppose Labour’s Digital ID Card Plans

Most of the time, I use this space to talk about local issues – roads, transport, community services – the things that directly affect our community. I try to avoid straying into national politics.

But sometimes, something comes along that is so serious, so threatening to our way of life, that silence would be wrong.

My council colleagues know me as a strong libertarian, someone who has always championed individual choice and personal freedom. I believe the role of government is to serve citizens, not to control them. During Covid, I felt our basic freedoms were infringed upon in the name of “emergency powers.” To be clear, I was not a Covid or vaccine sceptic – I simply found some of the farcical laws introduced to “stop the virus” to be utterly absurd and poorly thought out. Today, I feel compelled to speak out again.

Labour’s proposal for a Digital ID card is not just a bad idea. It is a disgraceful and flagrant infringement on our daily lives.

A Step Towards a Surveillance State

On the surface, a digital ID may look like modernisation – a handy way to prove your identity. But don’t be fooled. This is the thin end of the wedge. It risks normalising a Britain where you are constantly asked to “show your papers” – or your phone – just to access basic services.

Once in place, a Digital ID would not stay limited to its original purpose. It would quickly become a universal passport for everyday rights – needed for jobs, housing, healthcare, even shopping. This is how a free society sleepwalks into a surveillance state.

It Won’t Stop Illegal Migration

Labour claims Digital IDs will help tackle illegal migration. That is nothing more than political spin. Illegal migration is driven by global instability, people-smuggling gangs, and failures at the border – not by the absence of a national ID system.

A digital card won’t stop small boats crossing the Channel. It won’t deter traffickers. It won’t fix a broken asylum system. What it will do is punish the law-abiding majority with yet another layer of bureaucracy, while those intent on breaking the law carry on regardless.

A Dangerous Threat to Privacy

A Digital ID isn’t just a card or an app – it means building a vast centralised database of every citizen’s personal information. That is a hacker’s dream and a gift to any government tempted to overreach.

To concentrate so much data and power in one place is reckless. It would put every Briton’s privacy at risk and give future governments – of any stripe – the tools to monitor and control us in ways we should never accept.

Britain Deserves Better

Britain has always prided itself on liberty, fairness, and personal freedom. We do not need a digital ID scheme to prove who we are. We already have passports, driving licences and robust identity checks that work without trampling on our rights.

Instead of pushing through this intrusive and authoritarian scheme, the government should focus on the real issues: securing our borders, dismantling people-smuggling gangs, and reforming the asylum process.

Conclusion

Labour’s Digital ID plan is not progress. It is a dangerous assault on our freedoms, a step towards mass surveillance, and a disgraceful attempt to normalise state control over law-abiding citizens.

As someone who believes passionately in protecting our civil liberties and individual choice, I cannot and will not stay silent.

Britain deserves better than this. We must resist it.