https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2025-09-26/first-minister-slams-proposed-brit-card-as-ludicrous

Parties across the usually sharp political divide in Northern Ireland have united to oppose digital ID cards.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced plans for the so-called “Brit-Card” to allow the verification of a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK.

The ID card, which will be mandatory, will include a name, date of birth, nationality or residency status, and a photo.

It is expected to be subject to consultation and may require legislation.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson described the plan as “the wrong approach”, and said his party’s MPs will oppose it.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill on Thursday night slammed the plan as “ludicrous”, and Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood said her party will oppose the digital IDs at every step.

On Friday, Mr Robinson expressed concern around data security and the scheme being mandatory.

“Digital ID cards would do very little to stop illegal immigration,” he said.

“The real challenges in tackling illegal entry to the UK lie at our borders and in enforcement, not in creating yet another layer of bureaucracy for ordinary citizens.

“We need to make illegal entry much more difficult and much less lucrative, and Labour seem incapable or unwilling to do so.

“Serious questions remain about how such an intrusive scheme would operate.

“What happens to people, particularly older people, without smartphones or easy access to digital technology? Why should every UK citizen be forced to prove their identity in this way when national insurance numbers already perform this function for work and access to services?

“There are also legitimate concerns about data security.

“Most worrying of all is the compulsory element. Forcing citizens to carry a digital ID card would be a fundamental shift in the relationship between the individual and the state, undermining liberty and privacy in ways that are totally unacceptable.

“Proposals to deal with immigration should be robust, fair and effective, but they must be done on a UK-wide basis and without penalising law-abiding people. Digital ID cards fail on every count.”

Meanwhile, SDLP leader Claire Hanna called for Northern Ireland to be exempt from the scheme.

She said her party’s MLAs will be tabling urgent Assembly questions on Monday to establish what engagement the Executive had with the UK Government before the announcement.

“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,” she said.

“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.

“That’s why I am calling for Northern Ireland to be exempt from this scheme. The SDLP will continue to argue for solutions that are practical, rights-based and reflect the unique circumstances of life here.”

The Ulster Unionist Party also opposed the scheme.

“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 spokesperson said.

“Such a system would undermine trust and liberty by granting the state unprecedented control over personal lives, jeopardising the core democratic values of liberty, privacy and accountability.

“We are calling on the Labour government to abandon this misguided policy and focus on solutions that respect the privacy and autonomy of the individual.”

by MancuntLover

23 comments

  1. This is just convergence with Europe which is getting more important in a globalised world. Expect to see Ireland introduce this in a few years.

  2. Presumably Starmer inherited all of the documents from when this failed with Blair

    Have they just not learned anything at all?

    I think you could sell an ID crad, in certain circumstances, but it would have to be limited and extremely well communicated what that would look like

    Of course none of the ground work has been done because this is a rushed attempt to appease Farage

    Starmer is devoid of ideas and inspiration, unable to communicate what he wants to do, I think his time is up.

  3. Thank God, finally, something we can all agree on. No one wants this authoritarian nightmare.

  4. There are a hell of a lot of right wing mouthpieces deleting their old tweets demanding mandatory ID cards.

  5. The UK’s normally so far ahead in surveillance state stuff it’s kinda surprising they don’t have this already, it’s quite common elsewhere in Europe.

  6. > We need to make illegal entry much more difficult and much less lucrative, and Labour seem incapable or unwilling to do so.

    They always say stuff like this without offering their alternative plan.

    Someone comes into the country legally, say visiting from Latvia, they stay for their allowed 90 days and then they remain in the UK. How do you make that more difficult? The only thing you can make more difficult is their finding work to support themselves, no?

  7. Should have been implemented years ago, so SF and DUP can wind their necks in. One of the main reasons that people can seemingly just waltz in and out of the UK is that we have no ID cards.

  9. SF and the DUP whilst in government insisted that everyone must have the digital covid passports on their phones, no ifs no buts, put it on your phone. Let that sink in.

  10. The crazy thing here is how absolute mishandled this has been by Starmer.

    A digital ID isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We carry electoral cards, driving licences and from time to time passports. Imagine the amount of grief it could avoid knowing you have your phone but left licence at home.

    The problem is Starmer is running into at full dystopian speed, as the British government can’t be trusted with people’s privacy or data protection. They will want to link this into every facet of our online identify as quickly as they can. It’s not going to stop people coming here on boats and it wont stop people from sharing their IDs with family or friends to get them jobs on the side for a bit of extra cash.

  11. The benefits outway the cons.

    The gov.uk service and apps are already considered some of the best in the world – it’s one thing they seem pretty decent at.

    If it makes access to things, signing contracts, banking, taking out a mortgage, etc. all easier then all for it.

    And it will hopefully help to combat the out of control delivery gig economy.

  14. Isn’t this what people wanted so less brown people can come here and work?

  15. The political establishment in NI seems like a shabby little club of embarrassments playing at politics at times. is it any wonder some dismiss it as a glorified parish council in a drab backwater. The type most countries build an overpass over to save travellers the misery of having to stop there on the way to somewhere that actually breathes.

    The scheme itself is a cracking idea. It fits neatly with the wider EU directive that every member state, even the Republic of Ireland, will have to put in place by 2026.

    Michele can at times to less charitable critics seem like an idiotic bleach bottle, rattling around with a handful of tired complaints and reheated grudges with no scope or vision beyond.armed with a few glossy magazine buzzwords that cloud the air instead of clearing it. Equally The other one to a number of critics seems perennially handcuffed to a creepy Evangelical cult, mouths open and waiting to inhale every rancid culture war foul puff that seeps out of the American Christian nationalist sewer.

    Free, widely accepted, state-accredited ID, recognised by banks, employers, social security and the rest, cutting out the rummaging, photocopying and scanning of passports, driving licences and every odd little card. That sounds like progress.

  16. Any info on the TUV stance? Thats the only one not mentioned in the article.

  17. The frustrating thing is that national ID cards are the norm in a lot of countries worldwide, and they aren’t authoritarian shitholes. It’s quite mundane.

    Yet not only do they want to introduce this, but they want to make it *digital* (introducing a whole lot of GDPR concerns) *and* tying it to the ability to work, *and* tying it to immigration etc.

    That’s a whole lot of power to give the government. For one, it relies on there being good actors in government. What if we got a Trump-style leader? Oops, we accidentally deleted your national ID, oh dear there goes your right to work and any residency rights.

    *Add on to that* the fact that the government has recently award a big contract to Palantir – who wants your data to either sell on or train AI models, and a digital ID system will nearly tie all that juicy data into a lovely, tidy format.

    There is no upside to this project. What a wee authoritarian Kier is turning into.

  18. Given all the difficulties facing the UK this is what Labour is leading with going into their party conference speech. Earlier this week Farage launched an attack on ILR and supported Trumps and RFKJrs bizarre take on autism and paracetamol/Tylenol. Rather than come out against that he decides this route.

    There’s already rumours that Tony Blair’s son, Ewan, will make bank off this as he has company specialising in it. A reminder 20ish years ago Blair attempted this. I wonder does McSweeney have an altar to TB that he worships every day?

    This Govt just seems to go from shit to shit.  The National Insurance rises, the winter fuel debacle, welfare/PIP, the ever rising financial black hole. 

  19. Just right too, this isn’t a Catholic/Protestant thing. Everyone should oppose this, the government has eroded your rights to protest, they’re eroding your privacy online, and now they’re using immigration to try and impose this ID card. Zero need for it, we have NI numbers for this reason!

  20. Just further reason why we do not need to saddled with the English.

    Border poll can’t come soon enough to get away from these fuckin mad heures

  21. I can see them excluding NI if there’s pushback from the political parties here, Westminster don’t really give a shite but will for sure impose it across Britain even if the Scottish don’t want it.

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