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Keir Starmer to set out plan for millions to require digital ID

LONDON — Keir Starmer will on Friday unveil plans to require people working in Britain to have government-issued digital identification.

The U.K. prime minister is expected to announce the move as he seeks to show voters he is getting on top of the high number of undocumented migrants arriving in Britain on small boats.

Starmer said earlier this month an identity scheme could play an “important part” in reducing the incentive to enter the U.K. without permission. He will commit to forging ahead and set out details in a speech on Friday, according to three people familiar with the arrangements who were not authorized to speak publicly.

One of the three people suggested the ID scheme would be universal. A fourth person, however, suggested that it was more likely to be targeted at people in work.

A fifth person said it would be mandatory for showing the right to work in the U.K.

Alongside existing systems, such as eVisas, the new scheme would function as an extra layer to stop unscrupulous employers finding loopholes in the system, a sixth person said.

The scheme will initially be consulted on and will likely need legislation, according to The Times.

French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly warned that the lack of ID cards in the U.K. acts as a major incentive to migrants, who are able to find work in the black economy.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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