Labour MPs Step Up Campaign For Digital ID

Lola McEvoy and Jake Richards are the chief organisers of a group of Labour backbenchers, largely elected at the July general election, who are pushing for ministers to use digital ID across a range of policy areas. The group has its own WhatsApp group, and plans to increase its campaigning on the issue in the coming weeks.

The group believes it has the support of around 50 Labour MPs, and believes that the idea is gaining traction within Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Cabinet.

McEvoy, Treasury select committee member and vice chair of the Labour Growth Group, argued that digital ID would help the government's bid to make Whitehall more efficient by streamlining departments. 

“I do think it's Labour's job to deliver this digitization agenda, because it helps in every government department.

“It is a huge part of productivity in transforming the role of the state and improving government services," the MP for Darlington told PoliticsHome.

The pair have based the initial cost of the roll-out on figures produced by the Tony Blair Institute think tank, which is a major proponent for digital ID. Its research estimates that it would cost £1bn, but adds that the government would recoup the costs in the long term through higher tax revenues and lower spending.

Using the NHS as an example, McEvoy said a system of digital ID could remove unnecessary bureaucracy, like reducing the time it takes for patients to book appointments.

“You see it in GP surgeries, you get people coming in and they're absolutely burnt out by it.

“People who've done everything right, they've worked hard, and then they turn to whatever service it might be to try and get some support, and they are irate because they have found that the service is broken,” McEvoy said.

“It's been really cumbersome, really bureaucratic, really frustrating, and it's not efficient.

“We have to move us into the 21st century. It’s also exciting because there are jobs involved in it, it's a growth point in and of itself.”

PoliticsHome understands other MPs within the Labour Growth Group, an intra-party caucus with close links to No10, support the idea and plan to make it a focus of their campaigning.

Labour Together, a think tank which also has close links to Starmer's inner circle, is working on a policy paper about digital ID which is expected to be published in the Spring. It will be led by Kirsty Innes, the director of tech policy, and will focus on how it can be used to help reduce illegal migration. 

Richards told PoliticsHome productivity had been in a "doom loop "for 14 years and the government needed a retail offer to reassure voters the state could function more efficiently.

“We're spending more on public services and they’re getting worse results,” he said. “Productivity is the only way in which we can get out of the doom loop that this country's been in the last 14 years.

“[This is] low hanging fruit, if you introduce this program quite quickly, people soon realize they were able to access public services much more efficiently.”

Richards believes the policy has the potential to unite different wings of the Parliamentary Labour Party because it can play a positive role in delivering the government's primary policy objective: economic growth.

“It ticks a lot of boxes,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of colleagues and I am yet to find someone who is dead against it or is really worried. I think the scars of the kind of ID card debate have been healed.”

Advocates point to recent polling suggesting that the idea has public support, especially in so-called 'red wall' seats in the North and in the Midlands.

A More in Common survey published in December for The Times found that 53 per cent of people were in favour, compared to 19 per cent who were against. The most enthusiastic supporters of digital ID were Conservative and Reform voters, with strong support from 37 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. 

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the government was committed to using technology to improve public services, and it was an efficient way for people to prove their identification, but ruled out any plans to make it a mandatory requirement. 

“Trusted providers following government rules are already conducting hundreds of thousands of digital checks monthly, helping people access employment, housing, and vital services more quickly and easily, while boosting productivity, driving economic efficiency, and supporting long-term growth as part of our Plan for Change," a spokesperson told PoliticsHome.

"There are no plans to make digital IDs mandatory — people will still have the option to use physical documents if they prefer."

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