Keir Starmer has rejected the claim that his change of plan over digital IDs represents another U-turn, as the prime minister faced accusations from the Conservatives that his government had \u201cno sense of direction\u201d.<\/p>\n
Late on Tuesday it emerged that a key plank of the controversial plan for digital IDs was being rolled back<\/a>, with a proposal to make the document mandatory for people to show their right to work being dropped, with other forms of identification being allowed instead, for example a passport with a digital chip or e-visa.<\/p>\n While Downing Street portrayed the change as a technical tweak, it removes the only compulsory element of the plan, significantly watering down the impact of the digital ID scheme.<\/p>\n It follows a series of other recent policy changes, including on changes to inheritance tax for farms<\/a>, and the way business rates are charged for pubs<\/a>.<\/p>\n But in a broadcast interview on Wednesday, Starmer said the key point of the checks \u2013 that people would need to show a digital form of ID \u2013 \u201cis still there\u201d. He told ITV: \u201cYou will be checked. Those checks will be digital. And they will be mandatory. What we\u2019re now doing is consulting on exactly what that might look like.\u201d<\/p>\n Challenged on whether this was nonetheless a U-turn, Starmer replied: \u201cNo. We said that you\u2019ll be checked, there will be digital checks. The purpose of it was to stop people working illegally in the country. In the end, that\u2019s the overriding consideration for me, because too many people are working illegally in our country.<\/p>\n \u201cThat shouldn\u2019t be happening. And I\u2019m determined to stamp it out. And that\u2019s why we\u2019re taking the measures that we are.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, at prime minister\u2019s questions in the Commons, Starmer was ridiculed by Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, who said his government was in chaos after another change in policy. Calling digital ID \u201ca rubbish policy\u201d, Badenoch began her questions by saying: \u201cCan I welcome the prime minister\u2019s latest U-turn? I feel like I say that every week.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cHe is blowing around like a plastic bag in the wind, no sense of direction whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n