LIVERPOOL — Controversial new plans for digital ID in Britain will help the government crack down on benefit fraud, according to the minister in charge of welfare. 

Ministers have insisted the digital ID rollout is aimed at ensuring people have the right to work in the U.K. in a bid to tackle illegal employment and dissuade migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats. 

The issue of small boats and high levels of migration has dominated political debate in the U.K. and led to a surge in support for the right-wing populist Reform UK, who currently lead in multiple opinion polls.

However, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden made clear the government is also considering how digital ID could be rolled out to other public services too, including the welfare regime. 

He told a POLITICO event at the Labour conference in Liverpool it could be used to check whether benefit claimants are still in Britain and still entitled to their claims — as well as to root out fraudulent applications. 

“I think we do want to explore this,” he said. “The potential for convenience for people in accessing public services is really high. The prime minister is absolutely right to ask us to do the work on this. I hope to be part of that work.”

McFadden said he went to Estonia in August to hear about how the nation manages its own digital ID regime.

He said the Estonian government thought Brits “searching in a draw to try to find a tatty council tax bill” to prove their identity “was a little bit quaint.”