Sir Keir Starmer has unveiled a plan for a digital ID scheme, highlighting how it will help his Government tackle illegal immigration by “make it tougher to work illegally in this country”.

While Sir Keir put forward immigration as a key reason behind digital ID, former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair’s previous attempt to introduce an ID card was centred around tackling terrorism.

In a BBC article from 2006, it was reported that officials said ministers were setting themselves up for failure and “ignoring reality” by continuing with the scheme.

It was suggested in documents published by The Sunday Times almost two decades ago that ministers thought about a U-turn.

However, the Home Office denied the claims.

“We’re still committed to the introduction of the scheme,” a Home Office spokesman said at the time.

“Any suggestion that we have abandoned ID cards is wrong.

“We’ve always made it clear that the introduction will be staged.”

Under Sir Tony’s plans, the deadline for phasing the cards was by 2008.

In fact, then-Shadow Home Secretary David Davi, who is still the MP for Goole & Pocklington, said the obsession by Sir Tony would “actually weaken our security and cost at least £20billion”.

The Liberal Democrats agreed with their future Brexit nemesis.

The Liberal Democrats’ Home Affairs spokesman Nick Clegg, who would later become Deputy Prime Minister, warned there were problems.

He said: “This has now all been confirmed by Government officials themselves”.

“How long will this Government continue to live in denial by ignoring the mountain of doubts about Tony Blair’s herebrained ID cards scheme?” he said.

Sir Keir has told people they “will not be able to work in the UK if you don’t have a digital ID”.

“It’s as simple as that,” the Prime Minister said during his conference in London on Friday.

The scheme is aimed at making it “tougher to work illegally in this country”.

What Sir Keir believes is that introducing digital IDs will make “our borders more secure”.

The scheme would require anyone starting a job or renting a home to show the ID on their phone.

It would see the IDs become mandatory by the end of Parliament – expected at the latest in 2029.

Sir Keir said the scheme was “essential” to tackle “every aspect of the illegal immigration problem”.

“There is no doubt that for years left-wing parties, including my own, did shy away from people’s concerns around illegal immigration,” he said.

The Prime Minister suggested that people in the UK would be offered “countless benefits” and make it easier to apply for services such as driving licenses, childcare and welfare.

It would go through a consultation process before being implemented.

Despite Sir Tony pushing for the ID in the 2000s, through the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, he again made the call for implementing the scheme, posting a video titled “Tony Blair: Now is the time to embrace Digital IDs”.