The Irish government is being consulted about how controversial proposals for a mandatory UK digital ID scheme would impact cross-border workers. 

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn confirmed that the UK government is ‘in discussion’ with the Irish administration over the proposed scheme, claiming that both the Good Friday Agreement and Common Travel Area would be upheld, The Independent reports.

The proposals were unveiled by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Friday, and would see a digital ID – the reported name of the ID is a ‘Brit Card’ –  rolled out across the UK, with a stated goal of tackling illegal immigration. Mr Benn made the comments during the annual Labour Party conference held in Liverpool, insisting that the concept of a digital ID was “the way of the future.”

“In the UK at the moment, including in Northern Ireland, if you’re going for a new job, you have to demonstrate that you have the right to work,” Mr Benn said.“Currently, you would present a British passport, or an Irish passport, or proof of settled status, or a biometric residence permit. So it’s not going to be different in that respect.

“There are particular issues, of course, in Northern Ireland because of the Good Friday Agreement. People could be British or Irish, or both.

“We will do nothing in the way we implement it that in any way undermines the protections and the rights that’s retained in the Good Friday Agreement. I promise you that.”

He added that the Labour Government has a goal of “aiming to implement” the digital ID scheme by “the end of this Parliament.”

“But we have to have a digital ID that works for everybody, all citizens, including all citizens in Northern Ireland,” Benn said.

Sir Keir Starmer has said that a new ID system would be introduced by 2029, and would be mandatory for people working in the UK.

“I know working people are worried about the level of illegal migration into this country,” the Prime Minister said in a statement. “A secure border and controlled migration are reasonable demands, and this government is listening and delivering”.

However, opponents have highlighted that the UK already operates a digital right-to-work system, which means that foreign employees must obtain a share code through their eVisa account, which employers are legally obliged to check before hiring staff. Significant penalties are imposed for on-compliance. Campaigners have argued that introducing another layer of digital ID would see employers intent on circumventing the law continue to do so, by hiring off the books or ignoring checks, as before.

Further, it has been argued that the experience of countries like Germany, which has had a digital ID system in place since 2010, has shown that illegal working continues to be a problem despite such systems, and that digital IDs have not deterred employers who knowingly break the law. Opponents say that Starmer’s plans will only add bureaucracy whilst failing to address the root causes of illegal immigration or employment.

Amid protests, including one which saw a Merseyside pub renamed The George Orwell, with Sir Keir Starmer depicted as a “Big Brother” figure inspired by Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, campaigners have branded the proposals authoritarian. They say that the mandatory scheme would increase the potential for increased and coercive State control, and that a compulsory digital ID system would challenge core British civil liberties. 

2.5 MILLION SIGN PETITION

Such is the weight of public opposition to the scheme that a petition demanding that the UK Government scrap the proposal surpassed 2.5 million signatures. The petition, to the UK Government and Parliament, reads: “We think this would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system. We oppose the creation of any national ID system.

“ID cards were scrapped in 2010, in our view for good reason.”

The UK Parliament is to consider the petition for a debate.

IRISH GOVT TO LAUNCH DIGITAL WALLET

At the EU level, the eIDAS 2.0 regulation mandates all Member States to provide citizens, residents, and businesses with an EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) by late 2026. It would take the form of a digital wallet available on citizens’ smartphones to store and manage drivers’ licenses, health records, documents and access to public and private services.

Pilot projects have already been launched across 26 EU countries, as well as Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine. However, most European systems at present remain voluntary or linked to existing legal ID cards. The Irish Government, as reported in July, is set to launch a digital wallet within months; the Department of Public Expenditure is overseeing the ID system’s rollout.

Ireland’s Digital ID Wallet, developed under the European Digital Identity (EUDI) framework, was set for a 2024 launch however was delayed to gather feedback. It is expected to launch in 2026, in line with the EU mandate.

A pilot scheme concluded in July, having involved 500 public servants who volunteered for the scheme, according to a Biometric Update report from July.

“Following positive feedback, the Government is examining the possibility of launching the wallet on a limited basis before the end of the year,” a spokesperson of the Department of Public Expenditure, the agency overseeing the project, told the Irish Independent.

“The Irish Wallet is built and has already been successfully tested with over 500 public service volunteers. Following positive feedback, the Government is examining the possibility of launching the wallet on a limited basis before the end of the year,” the spokesperson said.

”The Government Digital Wallet will ultimately enable a person who holds a wallet to have full access to their own personal data, in the form of credentials, and will enable them to use these via the wallet to obtain or transact with both public and private services as they wish.”

However, there is no guidance yet on whether smartphone documents will become “mandatory but not compulsory” for access to official services such as pensions and healthcare, the Independent reported.

Civil liberties organisation Epicenter Works, which is based in Austria, previously criticised a “dangerous loophole” in the EU wallet rules, stating: “This dramatic backslide threatens the core principle of the European Digital Identity Wallet project, namely giving users across the EU secure digital identities under reliable and uniform protections.”