{"id":693906,"date":"2026-01-13T20:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/693906\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:54:12","slug":"government-u-turns-on-mandatory-digital-id-cards-for-workers-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/693906\/","title":{"rendered":"Government U-turns on mandatory digital ID cards for workers | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government has abandoned plans to make digital ID cards mandatory for workers.<\/p>\n

Sky News understands digital IDs will no longer be required for the right to work by the end of this parliament, set for 2029.<\/p>\n

Last year, the government had said it would be compulsory as a way of reducing illegal working.<\/p>\n

Politics latest: Iranian ambassador summoned over Tehran’s response to protests<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said on Tuesday: “We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks.<\/p>\n

“Currently right to work checks include a hodge podge of paper-based systems with no record of checks ever taking place. This is open to fraud and abuse.<\/p>\n

“We have always been clear that details on the digital ID scheme will be set out following a full public consultation which will launch shortly.<\/p>\n

“Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective, while also remaining inclusive.”<\/p>\n

According to The Times, while right to work checks will still be mandatory, other forms of documentation, such as an electronic visa or a passport, will be valid – not just digital ID.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives accused Sir Keir Starmer of “spinelessness”, while the Lib Dems said the plan was “doomed to failure”.<\/p>\n

It is the 13th U-turn by this government.<\/p>\n

\"Sir<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Sir Keir Starmer had previously said digital ID would be mandatory for the right to work. Pic: PA<\/p>\n

Just four months ago, Sir Keir said: “You will not be able to work in the UK if you don’t have a digital ID, it’s as simple as that.”<\/p>\n

He said the scheme would “make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure”.<\/p>\n

The government had previously said anyone starting a job or renting a home would need to show the digital ID on their phone, and it would then be checked against a database of those entitled to work and live here.<\/p>\n

Tory shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: “While we welcome the scrapping of any mandatory identification, this is yet another humiliating U-turn from the Government.<\/p>\n

“Keir Starmer’s spinelessness is becoming a pattern, not an exception.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said: “Number 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns.<\/p>\n

“It was clear right from the start this was a proposal doomed to failure, that would have cost obscene amounts of taxpayers money to deliver absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n

“The government now needs to confirm that the billions of pounds earmarked for their mandatory digital ID scheme will be spent on the NHS and frontline policing instead.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The government has abandoned plans to make digital ID cards mandatory for workers. Sky News understands digital IDs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-693906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115889783800517784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}