The prime minister is set to announce that all adults in the UK will be required to own a new form of government-issued digital ID.
It is understood that Sir Keir Starmer will set out the plans shortly.
The proposals are the government’s latest bid to tackle illegal immigration, with the new ID being a form of proof of a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK.
The so-called ‘Brit card’ will be subject to a consultation and would require legislation to be passed, before being rolled out.
Under the proposals, anybody starting a new job would be required to hold the digital ID, which could then be checked against a central database of those with the right to work in the UK.
At the moment, workers have to show at least one form of physical ID in the form of documents – but there are concerns within government that these can be faked.
Under the new system, immigration enforcement would be able to see which checks have been carried out and use it to track down those working illegally.
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, is believed to have initially been sceptical of the scheme due to its restrictions on civil liberties.
But it is understood that he has been won over – and that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is also supportive of the scheme.
In July, Labour peer Harriet Harman told Sky News that the black economy and ID cards would “make it more difficult for people to work illegally”.
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly warned that the lack of ID cards in the UK acts as a major incentive – a pull factor for Channel crossings – as migrants feel they are able to find work in the black economy.
By Sky News
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