Next UK Prime Minister Drops Digital ID Scheme (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0184505426
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/07/18/2214208/next-uk-prime-minister-drops-digital-id-scheme
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/next-uk-prime-minister-andy-burnham-drops-digital-id-scheme-2026-07-18/
> Incoming British prime minister Andy Burnham will scrap the government's troubled plans for a digital ID scheme when he enters office on Monday, a spokesperson for the new Labour Party leader said. Resources devoted to the scheme, deemed a " [2]fiasco " by a cross-party committee of lawmakers, will be redirected to Burnham's priorities, the spokesperson said...
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> "All the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it's most needed, such as helping with the cost of living," Burnham's spokesperson said. In November, the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog estimated the cost of the digital ID scheme at around £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) between financial years 2026/27 and 2028/29.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/next-uk-prime-minister-andy-burnham-drops-digital-id-scheme-2026-07-18/
[2] https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/83/home-affairs-committee/news/213601/placing-public-at-heart-of-digital-id-strategy-only-way-to-recover-from-botched-launch-home-affairs-committee-warns/
Good News (Score:2)
This is good news. Fiasco is the perfect description for the very idea of that national ID scheme.
But, I am keenly interested to hear how exactly he plans to address the cost of living situation. Contrary to what most people seem to think, national/global economics aren't fixed with a stroke of the pen. It's complex as fuck and rife with unintended consequences. I simply hope that he doesn't make matters worse. Again.
Re: Good News (Score:2)
Between this and the VPN U-turn I'm pretty optimistic. Not so convinced on the housing improvement idea suspect that'll fall flat like so many of the previous have sadly.
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
he would be different from starmer in that, or in anything else for that matter: after two weeks of confident oratory performance, empty promises and distractions the shiny new will drift back into the same creepy old rhetoric: ukraine, the russians are coming. the digital id is definitely coming, eventually. he won't even have to be co-opted, he's already the next hand picked stooge from the pool.
like every of the half dozen pms before him one of his very first proclamations should emphasize his rock solid
Foolish (Score:1)
We actually need this in the UK because we donâ(TM)t have any other means of recognising who is allowed to work and who is not. This is why so many migrants are attracted to the UK from safe countries like France.
The irony is that the people involved in running this program are the same people who have made the UK digital passport renewal process much easier, and therefore the chance is that it would be a digital white elephant are pretty minimal.
Weâ(TM)ve got the need. Weâ(TM)ve got the work
Re: (Score:2)
Allow everyone to work. Simple, and also has the benefit of not being insanely authoritarian.
Re: (Score:2)
>> This is why so many migrants are attracted to the UK from safe countries like France.
> Damn those Frenchies taking all of your jobs!
> What about letting people work if they're qualified to do the job?
My understanding: The immigrants we are talking about do not have qualifications; they take jobs as construction or food deliveries. Immigrants are not formally authorised to work, but risk no legal sanctions, and their months of employment will count positively (as evidence of being productive citizen) if they make requests to the French authorities (to obtain authorisation for work). However, employers risk large fines (~50-100 k€) for hiring an unauthorised worker. Only shady companies will hire the
Re: Foolish (Score:3)
Isn't that what the immigration ARC ID cards are for? If you're a citizen by birth you'll have NI and most likely either a passport or drivers license, be. If you're a visa based immigration then you'll have a passport and a evisa which will state your right to work. You can also (for free) check the right to work of applicants using the government portal. We have so many ways already of proving right to work that it makes little sense to add yet another one at such a cost. The people that are employed and
Re:Foolish (Score:4, Informative)
> we don't have any other means of recognising who is allowed to work and who is not.
Yes we do. It's called a share code. Get a visa and you no longer get a big sticker in your passport. You get status on a government computer. When someone asks you to prove that you are legit to work, you log in, get a share code and give to the person asking. They can log in, enter the share code and it will confirm or deny that you are legit to work based on you visa.
I'm British. My wife is American. That is how I know.
More insanity (Score:2, Insightful)
Politicians who support high benefits for those not working should be the first to support measures to ensure the money goes to the people who deserve it.
And yet they are always opposed to such measures.
Why is that ?
It's like the people who claim to support democracy opposing checks that the people voting are entitled to do so.
Re: (Score:1)
They need to ensure that the Big Guy gets his 10% first.
National IDs give you more privacy (Score:1)
If you and I want to enter any kind of contract we have to uniquely know who each other are. If you don't have a single, national ID, I then have to know your name, date of birth, address, phone number, previous addresses, mother's maiden name etc so that I can uniquely identify you. And then we just assume companies need to know our slashdot id, sex, eye color, height, sexual orientation, weight...
Re: (Score:2)
Worth mentioning as well, in regards to privacy, is that modern digital identity schemes can allow for granular disclosure of personal information datapoints, meaning their introduction can improve the privacy situation in many circumstances.
Re: National IDs give you more privacy (Score:5, Interesting)
Bullshit. I've yet to encounter a contract where anything more than a passport or drivers license and NI number were required. Heck even security clearance only needed my NI and drivers license to get the ball rolling. It's a stupidly expensive replacement for systems we already have. If you're worried about handing over address information put tape on the DL card. £2 worth of tape is infinitely more productive than £2billion(UK IT so probably 10) of yet another ID standard.
So... (Score:2)
They'll have to be satisfied with Analog ID
Re: (Score:2)
> They'll have to be satisfied with Analog ID
Well, lots of audiophiles feel that Analog is actually better than Digital! ;)
National ID (Score:1)
That's like the Hitler/Soviet "papers please!"
Re: National ID (Score:2)
Does he/she have to give any details (articulate) of this crime they reasonably suspect you fo committing, at the time of the arrest; or do they get days/weeks to think of something before they need to go to court, if you subsequently try to sue them for wrongful arrest?
I'm just curious...
Re: National ID (Score:2)
It's odd to say to an American (USA anyway) to look in the mirror, because they usually ARE looking in the mirror, and accusing those "others" 9f some heinous crime, but it's really they who are commiting it. They usually seem China when they look in the mirror, but it is actually themselves.