A state-run digital ID is the last thing the Government should be worrying about and spending our money on. The so-called Brit Card was not in their manifesto and there is no surge of requests for such a new intrusion into our lives. We want the Government to keep their promise to smash the gangs. Requiring law-abiding people already here to have digital IDs will not stop criminals ignoring the rules and living a life of crime. People in Northern France are not going to say if we have digital ID they will not come.
They are already coming here illegally and getting jobs for cash, showing they are happy to break the rules. The law-abiding already have a National Insurance number, a driving licence, a passport to travel and benefits and pensions accounts but these things do not stop the illegals. They prefer to come with no ID and then get access to UK services and accommodation which we grant them.
Presumably new arrivals on the boats would be issued with their own digital ID anyway. They can still make up their history if we allow people to stay here who have destroyed or lost their passports. They can tell us that which needs saying to qualify for whatever the rules require for admission.
Some say it will help the police track down illegals on the streets. If we are all required to carry digital ID with us and can be stopped to find out who we are there will be plenty of hard cases where someone’s mobile phone has no battery charge or has been temporarily mislaid or left at home.
Criminals asked to produce digital ID can always think of a reason why they can’t, promise to attend a police station later, and go missing. Some will have good fabricated ID.
When it comes to illegal working the Government has an enforcement problem, not an ID problem. Everyone legally here and wanting to work has a unique National Insurance Number.
No-one is meant to get a job without declaring their number and paying National Insurance where due. The state has the powers to prosecute employers who break these rules. Why would it be any different if instead of needing an NI number you needed a digital ID? There would still be rogue employers who need uncovering and charging.
Government handling of large computer schemes should leave Ministers nervous and the public worried. The Post Office spent a fortune of taxpayers’ money on a computer system that sent some of their best people to jail on false allegations.
The NHS has spent much money on new systems for booking appointments and keeping in touch with patients, often making it more difficult to get a meeting with a GP. Pity the taxpayer with a project on this scale.
The digital ID is a solution in search of a problem to solve. It is a hammer to our freedoms missing the nails of illegal migration and street crime.
The Government will find there is plenty of opposition as it uses this distraction to try to divert attention away from their failure to smash the gangs and to grow the economy.
