Sir Keir Starmer has declared that Britons should embrace voluntary ID cards on his two-day visit to Mumbai to discuss India’s own controversial scheme.

The Aadhar scheme – which holds the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, retinal and fingerprint scans of more than a billion people – could be a worrying sign of what could be in store for the UK.

A number of hidden dangers, outlined by openDemocracy, include mass surveillance; a denial of services to the elderly, the impoverished and the infirm; compromised safety and security, along with a fundamentally altered relationship between citizen and state.

Sir Keir has said that digital IDs would be “very important” for employment – however, he added that people could gain a “significant advantage” by using the card beyond work.

Sir Keir’s comments came in the early hours of the second day of his trade visit to Mumbai to hold meetings on trade, business, digital ID and more.

Opinion polls have shown that support for the cards has plummeted after the Prime Minister announced they would be mandatory to work in the UK by 2029.

It was Sir Keir’s flagship announcement the day before Labour’s conference in Liverpool last month.

While there has been fierce disapproval of his move, the Prime Minister is adamant that it would meet his party’s manifesto to tackle illegal migration.

“We need to address the fact that too many people can come to this country and work illegally,” he said.

Sir Keir was again challenged in a later press conference on Thursday, again drawing attention to the migrant crisis.

“I mean on digital ID let me be really clear about it,” he said.

“We have made a commitment to do whatever we can to stop people arriving illegally in the united Kingdom.”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Pro-Palestine protesters vow to push on with major demonstration despite Hamas-Israel ceasefire
• Manchester terrorist’s Muzmatch dating profile revealed as its discovered he had THREE wives
• British swimmer fends off great white shark in terrifying midnight attack

Sir Keir said one of the issues is people having the ability to work “illegally in the economy”.

“We can’t shirk that or duck that,” he added.

“I think the vast majority, if not everyone in the UK, wants it gripped.”

The Prime Minister said that his Government needed to “take measures necessary to grip it”.

“One of the things on digital ID I do think we need to emphasise and make the case for is the great benefits of digital ID,” he said.

“You can see from Estonia the speed with which people can access services.”

Sir Keir said that would be “transformational” in the UK before pointing to there being “great enthusiasm” in Estonia for the scheme.

The Prime Minister said there needed to be “a national debate” on the scheme.

“The more people see the benefits that come with it, the more, as has happened with other countries, people will say ‘that will make my life easier’,” he said.

Sir Keir added that once they saw that, they would jump on board.

During his trip to Mumbai, Sir Keir said: “We’re going to a country, India, where they’ve already done ID and made a massive success of it”.

“So one of the meetings I’ll be having is about ID, in relation to that,” he added.

Our Standards:
The GB News Editorial Charter