Keir Starmer has abandoned plans to make digital IDs mandatory for workers, marking the 13th significant U-turn of his premiership and a quiet retreat from one of Labour’s most controversial post-election policies.
The digital ID scheme, originally pitched as a central plank of Labour’s crackdown on illegal working and migration, will now be optional when introduced in 2029. Workers will instead be able to verify their right to work using existing documentation, such as passports or electronic visas.
The decision follows growing unease within cabinet and on Labour’s back benches, where ministers warned that compulsory digital IDs risked undermining public trust, alienating voters and triggering internal rebellion. Government sources confirmed that concerns about cost, complexity and inclusivity ultimately forced a rethink.
Starmer had previously argued that mandatory digital IDs were essential to knowing “who is in our country” and preventing illegal migrants from entering the shadow economy. However, officials now say the scheme will be repositioned as a convenience-led service designed to simplify everyday interactions with the state, such as registering births and deaths, opening bank accounts, booking GP appointments and accessing public services.
Polling appears to have played a role in the reversal. Support for digital IDs fell sharply after Starmer framed them primarily as a migration enforcement tool, with public backing dropping from nearly six in ten voters to fewer than four in ten, according to YouGov.
Cost has also been a major sticking point. The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated the scheme could cost up to £1.8bn over three years, a figure the government disputes but has declined to replace with its own estimate. Critics inside Whitehall warned that a mandatory system risked excluding older workers and those without digital access, particularly in rural areas.
Under the revised approach, right-to-work checks will remain compulsory for employers, but digital ID will be just one of several acceptable verification methods. A public consultation will explore how the system should operate and what safeguards are needed to prevent exclusion or abuse.
A government spokesperson said the move would help defuse conspiracy theories around digital IDs and state surveillance, while still allowing ministers to modernise outdated, paper-heavy verification processes that are vulnerable to fraud.
The reversal adds to a growing list of policy retreats since Labour took office, including changes to business rates relief for pubs, a softening of inheritance tax reforms affecting farmers, and the dilution of employment law reforms.
Opposition figures seized on the latest shift as evidence of instability. Conservatives accused Starmer of abandoning a flagship policy at the first sign of resistance, while Liberal Democrats said the volume of U-turns was becoming a defining feature of the government.
For business, the decision removes the prospect of a new mandatory compliance burden for employers, at least in the short term. However, it also raises fresh questions about the government’s ability to deliver large-scale digital reform without further reversals.
