Council motion opposes government's digital ID plan

The Labour government says digital ID is an "enormous opportunity" but critics are less sure

A council has passed a motion opposing the government's plans for compulsory digital ID calling it "a clear danger for our residents".

At a full council meeting, some members of Reform UK-controlled North Northamptonshire Council criticised the proposals and said a letter would be sent to the prime minister asking "that he abandon this ill-thought-out scheme".

Under the UK-wide proposals, digital ID would be stored on phones and used to help prove identity when applying for jobs and government and private sector services.

The government said it would help curb illegal migration and "send a clear message that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to work".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council's motion, jointly proposed by Conservative and Reform UK councillors, argued that digital ID would be a "step towards authoritarianism".

Chris Munday, a Reform UK councillor, said: "The government claims this is about preventing illegal working.

"As someone who works in the HR profession, I can tell you plainly it won't.

"Those employers who choose to break the law, those who hire illegal workers, will simply continue to ignore any new system, just as they ignore the current one," he said.

"But the real danger is what lies beneath – the creeping authoritarianism that comes with it.

"It's the slow normalisation of being checked, logged and approved."

Potential impact

But Simon Fairhall, a Liberal Democrat councillor, labelled it a "waste of time motion", despite his own opposition to digital ID.

He asked the council chamber: "Are we going to have a motion every time the government makes an announcement?

"The first line of our rules states motions must be on matters which North Northamptonshire has direct responsibility and can implement.

"I don't believe we have either."

Mark Pengelly, a Labour councillor, also questioned if the meeting was the right place to discuss the government's plans.

But Helen Harrison, Conservative group leader, who put forward the motion, said it was right to discuss it, given the effect it would have on day-to-day lives and the potential impact on services the authority provided.

North Northamptonshire Council debated compulsory digital ID at a meeting on Thursday

A Labour Party spokesperson said digital ID was "an enormous opportunity for the UK" and said it would offer "ordinary citizens countless benefits".

The government is set to launch a public consultation on the plans by the end of the year.