Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said introducing mandatory ID would be “very serious step that requires a proper national debate”.
She criticised the government’s announcement as a “desperate gimmick” to distract attention from the “leadership maneuverings” of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham ahead of Labour’s annual conference next week.
She has previously said that digital ID was “not really going to solve the problem” of illegal working in the UK.
Reform UK has denounced the plan as a “cynical ploy to fool voters that something is being done about illegal immigration”.
“It’s laughable that those already breaking immigration law will suddenly comply, or that digital IDs will have any impact on illegal work,” the party added.
“All it will do is impinge further on the freedoms of law-abiding Brits.”
The Liberal Democrats, who played a central role in blocking the previous Labour government’s ID cards, have said they “cannot support” a mandatory scheme.
“People shouldn’t be turned into criminals just because they can’t have a digital ID, or choose not to,” added technology spokesperson Victoria Collins.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is set to launch a new left-wing party in the coming weeks, said he was opposed to a compulsory scheme, branding it an “affront to our civil liberties”.