petition to scrap the scheme<\/a> has surged to almost three million signatures.<\/p>\nAmong OAPs, polling by The Pensioner Vote has found that 96 per cent of retirees are concerned about the use of Digital IDs.<\/p>\n
Caroline Abrahams, the charity director of Age UK, said the charity has not yet taken a position for or against the scheme.<\/p>\n
However, Ms Abrahams said: “If they are coming, it’s really important that the needs of millions of older people who do not use computers or own a smartphone are taken into account.<\/p>\n
![\"Brit](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%202400%201600'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\")
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A petition to scrap the ID scheme has surged to almost three million signatures (file photo)<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
“In practice, if digital ID cards are to become universal in the future – not the current proposal – there will [need to] be an offline alternative of some kind.<\/p>\n
“The development of digital ID cards also places a responsibility on the Government to lead a much more determined effort than we’ve seen so far to help those who want to go online to do so.”<\/p>\n
The Government says its digital ID rollout aims to streamline access to services and improve identity checks.<\/p>\n
The IDs will be stored on smartphones and used for services such as paying tax, driving licenses, and claiming benefits.<\/p>\n
Paper-based methods will remain in place for people during the transition period.<\/p>\n
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PICTURED: A protester holds a placard decrying digital ID. Campaigners have warned that pensioners ‘risk becoming second-class citizens’ under the scheme<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
But Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary Helen Whately told GB News that Labour has made a critical oversight.<\/p>\n
“The Government is assuming that everyone will have a smartphone,” she said. “Just like with winter fuel payments, they have failed to check who will suffer because of their rushed announcement.<\/p>\n
“Thousands of pensioners don’t have smartphones. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see digital ID cards become Labour’s next U-turn.”<\/p>\n
Even the Prime Minister’s own MPs have turned on the scheme.<\/p>\n
Labour MP Graham Stringer said: “At a time of budget pressure, embarking on a scheme that will cost at least \u00a33billion and wasn\u2019t in the manifesto is not justified.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tory Helen Whately, Labour’s Graham Stringer and Reform UK’s Lee Anderson (left to right) have all condemned the scheme<\/p>\n
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HOUSE OF COMMONS<\/p>\n
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson, meanwhile, branded digital IDs a “pathetic attempt by the Government to pull the wool over our eyes and act as though they have any control over the catastrophic levels of illegal immigration into this country”.<\/p>\n
He told GB News: “Now we learn that older people and pensioners will be at a disadvantage because of these ill-conceived proposals.<\/p>\n
“This scheme will only impinge on the freedoms of law-abiding Brits, and create the illusion of plugging the leak – when, in reality, they have allowed the flood gates to fling open.”<\/p>\n
A full rollout is expected by the end of this Parliament. Public consultation will shape the IDs’ final plans, with support promised for those without any digital access.<\/p>\n
GB News has approached the Government for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Millions of pensioners risk becoming “second-class citizens” in their own country thanks to digital ID, a leading campaign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,16938,44,131,132,714,18461],"class_list":{"0":"post-214124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-keir-starmer","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-personal-finance","15":"tag-personalfinance","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-uk-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Sir](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sir-keir-starmer.jpg\")
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