Supporters of Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial plans to roll out digital ID cards in Britain have hailed the success that Estonia in eastern Europe has had in implementing the technology. Number 10 claims mandatory digital ID cards will secure our borders and speed up access to key services. But when I visited Estonia recently, I learned that its borders are not secure thanks to digital ID cards, but good old-fashioned common sense. In the Estonian border town of Narva, guards have had to deal with thousands of illegal migrants that the Kremlin has sent across into Europe in a deliberate strategy to destabilise Nato’s borders.
However, it’s not ID cards that Estonia is using to combat the issue. Border guards told us the stark choice they offer the young men attempting to enter without documents: A long wait in a cold detention centre or immediate return to Russia. Unsurprisingly, almost all of them turned back.
In Britain, under Starmer, they’d be put up in a hotel and given a luxury allowance. While Estonia’s immigration problem is far smaller than ours, despite its aggressive neighbour’s actions, it returns nearly all illegal migrants. This is what Starmer should take note of.
It is also a lesson to other European Union countries who are too willing to allow illegal migrants to trespass across Europe on their way to the English Channel.
Estonia’s compulsory e-ID, which is needed to vote, bank and access medical services, has been part of everyday life since 2002. But it comes at a cost, trading privacy for easier access to public services. It’s not a trade many Brits would agree with.
There are other, more important lessons that we can learn from Estonia. During my visit, on a cross-party delegation, I discovered a country with a proud population overwhelmingly ready to stand up and fight for its nation. Almost 90% of Estonians say they would take up arms to defend their country. Imagine that poll in Britain.
While we’ve forgotten in Britain the cold realities of Russian autocratic rule stretching across much of Europe over three decades ago, Estonians not only remember but are reminded of it each day.
Staring across the Narva River that separates freedom from tyranny, the miserable-looking Russian town of Ivangorod is a different world.
While the border is mostly closed, a steady stream of dual nationals cross with empty suitcases used to carry food and other supplies to Russian relatives struggling with empty supermarket shelves.
Estonia will soon spend 5.4 per cent of its GDP on defence, and public opinion firmly supports higher defence spending. With the Russian bear on the doorstep and Ukraine on everyone’s minds, these public attitudes are perhaps not surprising.
Estonia sees the dangers that many in the West have blindly neglected for too long. Ukraine may be in the other corner of Europe, but let’s not forget the impact of Russia’s aggression felt here in Britain.
Putin’s invasion in 2022 sparked energy and food inflation, pushing prices up for British households and businesses. That’s not to mention the repeated Russian cyber-attacks targeting British companies, public services and military satellites.
We’ve also seen a Kremlin-ordered chemical weapon attack in Salisbury and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko on British soil. Yet, Britain has still been too slow to recognise that Russia only respects strength, and that increasing defence spending must be a priority today, not tomorrow.
The Prime Minister has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, and 3.5% by 2035. But this could be too little too late by the time it’s realised.
There is one relatively inexpensive thing that the Government should do quickly: learn the lessons of drone warfare in Ukraine.
Cheap drones now dominate the conflict in Ukraine, with battlefields covered in fibre optic cable used to pilot remote bombs. Russia is using Iranian-made drones to launch devastating and indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
One downed drone — a Shahed-136 attack drone, Putin’s weapon of choice — was displayed in Parliament this week. It only costs the Kremlin between £15,000 and £40,000. But it would cost NATO around £130,000 to shoot down a target using an F-16 fighter jet missile.
Drone technology is levelling out asymmetrical conflicts. And it’s not just in the air. As Ukraine has shown, maritime drones can render a naval fleet useless, sinking expensive ships, while ground drones are used to transport ammo and supplies to the front without risking soldiers’ lives.
So, while I do not share their appetite for ID cards, I believe Britain must adopt Estonia’s spirit. They understand that national security comes first, whether it’s defence spending or border control, and are unapologetic about it.
They don’t take freedom and democracy for granted as we often do in Britain.
Louie French is the Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup and Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport
