Starmer continues his address by saying it's now time to confront "some of the challenges and lies that have taken root in our societies".

He mentions commentary on politics and cities which "simply don't match" reality.

Touching on London, he says the capital "isn't the wasteland of anarchy that some would have you believe".

The PM says this captures what they're up against - where places and communities are portrayed "a million miles from reality".

He says these lies "prey on real problems" which "draw a dividing line".

Image source, PA Media

"We are in an era of huge challenge," the Keir Starmer says.

He refers to the leaders in the room with him - from Iceland, Norway, Spain, Australia and Canada, among others.

"Pitted against our right-wing opponents, I'd say centre-left parties are having quite a year so far."

Starmer is addressing the Global Progressive Action Conference of centre-left leaders from around the world.

He begins by telling the audience it’s now time for "social democrats to confront directly some of the challenges and the lies, frankly, that have taken root in our societies".

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has just stepped up to the podium, where he's expected to give more detail about plans to introduce digital ID.

Watch it live above - and we'll bring you the key lines here.

We're expecting to hear from Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a few minutes.

He's speaking from the Global Progress Action Summit in London, which is described as a meeting of "progressive leaders, policy experts and strategists from over 20 countries".

He'll say that it's been "too easy" for people coming to the UK to " slip into the shadow economy" as he confirms plans for the new digital ID scheme.

We'll be covering what else he says - so stick with us.

Over 760,000 people have signed a petition against the government introducing digital ID cards on the UK Parliament website.

Parliament must consider all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate, and the government responds to petitions with more than 10,000 signatures.

That's a question some people have sent in - you can share your views on the government's plans with the BBC here.

Caroline, 61, from Manchester asks: "Why will this work? All companies already have to check 'right to work documentation'. Why do we need anything more?"

"Any company already not following the existing rules are hardly likely to start when ID cards are introduced," Caroline says, calling the plan "another complete waste of our money which will be absolutely pointless".

• For context: According to government guidance, external, it’s the employer’s responsibility to check a candidate’s right to work before employment. Since 2022, employers have also been able to carry out checks on passport-holding British and Irish citizens using digital verification services

Mary, 41, from Somerset says "surely" National Insurance numbers are enough.

"Rolling out another scheme will cost billions no doubt and for what? Just stop people coming into the country that have no right to be here," Mary says.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said earlier that your National Insurance number - which shows your right to work in the UK - will no longer be sufficient to prove your right to work in the UK. Employers will need to see your digital ID.

Asked what difference this will make, Nandy says "it's a much more rigid system." The culture secretary argues that because your NI isn't linked to any kind of photo ID, it's easier to pass off someone else's NI as your own.

Some of you have written in to us, sharing your reaction to today's news that digital IDs are going to be introduced in the UK.

Ajmal Shah, from Birmingham, believes that digital IDs would be overall beneficial. That's because, it would "boost security, cut fraud, speed access to services, streamline verification, support businesses, align internationally, reduce paper waste, empower citizens with data control, and strengthen resilience in emergencies".

In Ajmal's view, it would enhance convenience and efficiency.

Paul from Worthing in West Sussex echoes the support. In his opinion, there's "nothing wrong with digital IDs".

"It's not a gimmick," he says, adding that "by resisting giving data about ourselves we are playing into the space that illegal migration, and criminality thrive upon - anonymity".

"What we as a country need to be concerned about is that the system and solution needs to be safe, secure and delivered effectively," Paul adds.

Image source, Reuters

Later this morning, Prime Minister Starmer will formally announce the implementation of a new digital ID scheme which will make it "tougher to work in the UK illegally".

He'll say that "for too many years, it's been too easy for people to come here and slip into the shadow economy".

Referring to the prime ministers of Canada and Australia, who will also be speaking at the conference today, Starmer will say their election victories are living proof "that progressive values can overcome those who seek to divide societies".

He's also expected to address the online political discourse, which he will describe as "an industrialised infrastructure of grievance - an entire world – not just a worldview, created through our devices".

• Don't forget you'll be able to watch Starmer's speech live in full above

Image source, Getty Images

Keir Starmer's announcement on digital ID cards is expected during a speech he's giving at the Global Progress Action Summit in London a little later today.

The summit is described by one of its hosts as a meeting of "progressive leaders, policy experts and strategists from over 20 countries" with the aim of shaping progressive policy globally.

This year's hosts are Labour Together, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Other leaders due to speak today include the prime ministers of Australia and Canada, Anthony Albanese and Mark Carney, as well politicians from across the political spectrum - " including labour, liberal, green and progressive conservative parties."

The UK government announced today that it would be taking inspiration from other countries who already use similar digital identification schemes.

In its statement unveiling the policy, it singled out Australia, Estonia, Denmark and India as countries already using similar tools although whether it is compulsory or not varies from nation to nation. Other countries that use digital IDs include:

• Singapore
• Some EU countries - including Greece and France
• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• United Arab Emirates
• China
• Costa Rica
• South Korea

• Afghanistan

Tom Gerken
Technology reporter

It's not surprising that privacy campaigners are up in arms about this announcement.

The Open Rights Group say it risks “turning the UK into a pre-crime state where we constantly have to prove who we are to go about our daily lives”. Big Brother Watch called it “Orwellian”.

But what are privacy groups actually worried about?

The big concern is mass surveillance - the notion that if you create a database of everyone who lives in a country, it makes it easier to look into what people are doing - though we don’t know that this digital ID scheme would mean one singular database.

Others say the concern is not what would currently be done with the information, but how it may potentially be misused by some unknown future government years down the line.

Another big worry is cyber-security. This year has seen a series of high profile cyber-attacks causing massive disruption to M&S and the Co-op, and causing production to grind to a halt at Jaguar Land Rover.

Just yesterday, hackers told the BBC they had stolen the pictures, names and addresses of around 8,000 children from the Kido nursery chain.

Simply put, some campaigners are worried the infrastructure would be a target for hackers. But it’s impossible to say whether people’s data would be at risk - that would depend on how secure the system was.

Image source, BBC Breakfast

Helen Whately says the introduction of digital IDs serve as a "smokescreen for Keir Starmer's failures".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast earlier, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions says the PM is "desperately looking for a distraction" amid ongoing "scandals" - including speculation about Andy Burnham vying to replace Starmer.

She adds the Conservative Party "opposes" the introduction of mandatory ID.

"We don't want to become a country where people are stopped in the street and asked to show their ID," she says.

• As a reminder, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC people won't be compelled to show their digital ID when moving around

The government's digital ID scheme will enable digital checks on people's rights to live and work in the UK.

Under the plans, anyone starting a new job or looking to rent a home would need to show the card on a smartphone app.

It would then be checked against a central database of people entitled to live and work in the UK.

These checks are currently based on physical documents, although routes to complete the checks online for some people have existed since 2022.

The proposal is thought to require legislation and is subject to consultation, which will also look at how to make it work for those without a smartphone or passport.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy tells BBC's Today Programme that the introduction of digital ID is an "important measure" to "help us tackle the illegal economy".

Nandy says while it will be compulsory to have a digital ID on the government database, it won't be a requirement to have it on your mobile phone.

She says this isn't a card that people will have to show when moving around.

Asked what difference this will make, she says: "It's a much more rigid system," arguing that currently, your National Insurance - which shows your right to work in the UK - isn't linked to any kind of photo ID, "so it's far easier to pass off someone else's National Insurance number as your own".

She says if people are challenged, they will need to show a digital ID to show their right to work here - but adds that the digital ID won’t need to be shown to get benefits or access the NHS.

In the next few minutes, the BBC's Adam Fleming is going to host a phone-in to hear what the public thinks about the government's digital ID proposal.

We'll bring you the top lines from the programme here - you can also watch BBC 5Live by ticking Watch Live at the top of the page.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK has only introduced compulsory ID cards during wartime. Although they stayed in place for several years after World War Two, Winston Churchill's government scrapped them in 1952 following criticism over costs and police use.

Late 1990s - early 2000s:

The Labour government under Tony Blair introduced the idea of an ID card carrying biometric data, such as a fingerprint.

They were promoted with a similar rationale to that given by Starmer today - as a tool to crack down on illegal working - and as a potential counterterrorism measure in a post 9/11 world.

In 2006:

The Labour government passed legislation leading to a pilot scheme, external and a limited roll out of cards to young people. According to the Institute for Government, there were 15,000 ID cards in circulation by May 2010.

In 2010:

Due to concerns about privacy and cost, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government scrapped the scheme, external on coming to power in May 2010.

In 2024:

Shortly after Keir Starmer's Labour government came to power in a landslide election, it ruled out digital ID cards, with then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stating "that's not our approach".

Image source, PA Media

Leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, has said there are arguments "for and against" digital ID - but added that making it mandatory "requires a proper national debate".

In a post on X on Thursday, she accused Starmer of making "a throwaway conference announcement" to distract from other events in Downing Street - including speculation about Andy Burnham vying for the role of Labour leader.

"Can we really trust it to implement an expensive national programme that will impact all of our lives and put additional burdens on law abiding people? I doubt it," she said.

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

There has been a bit of confusion around who must have a digital ID under the government proposals.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Radio 5 Live: "We're not envisaging for a moment that this will be mandatory.”

She added: “For UK citizens, it will be a choice and it'll be free for them to be able to access."

I’ve spoken to two people in government who have confirmed that is incorrect. It will be compulsory in order to work in the UK. So pensioners, for example, and others who are not working will not have to have one.

That is one way ministers are hoping to mitigate concerns around the elderly, and those who don’t have a smartphone, being excluded.

There are also questions around costs. A government source has confirmed that the cards will be free for all UK citizens and those who are legal residents in the UK.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says "all UK citizens" will have to have the digital ID and it will be compulsory if "you want to work in this country".

You'll have to show the ID to prove you have the right to work in the UK, Nandy tells BBC Breakfast.

People won't have to use it for other purposes - such as signing up to different services - if they don't want to, she adds. "But it will help us to make sure we undermine the illegal economy," Nandy says.

A National Insurance number - which is currently used as part of proof to your right to work - will no longer be sufficient, Nandy tells the programme. Employers will need to see people's digital IDs, she says.

Earlier on Radio 5 Live, Nandy had said the ID would only be mandatory for those who want to "come to this country and work", adding that "we're not envisioning for a moment that this will be mandatory" for UK citizens.