Digital ID Cards: A Costly Distraction That Won’t Stop Illegal Immigration
The Prime Minister has announced plans to issue digital ID cards to every adult in Britain, claiming the scheme will help combat illegal migrants working in the black economy. It is a bold promise — and an empty one.
This proposal is not a serious solution to illegal immigration. It is a cynical attempt to look tough while avoiding the real causes of the problem.
Digital IDs Won’t Stop Illegal Migration
The idea that digital ID cards will meaningfully reduce illegal migration or illegal working simply does not stand up to scrutiny.
Those who are already breaking immigration law will not suddenly decide to comply because a new digital card exists. Visa overstayers will not be deterred by another layer of bureaucracy, and organised smuggling gangs certainly will not respect paperwork issued by the British state.
Illegal work thrives in the cash-in-hand, unrecorded economy — exactly the part of the system that digital IDs cannot touch. Employers who are prepared to break the law today will continue to do so tomorrow, card or no card.
This policy tackles the appearance of action, not the reality of enforcement.
Law-Abiding Britons Pay the Price
While digital IDs will do nothing to stop illegal working, they will inevitably intrude into the lives of ordinary, law-abiding Britons.
We already have robust forms of identification: passports and driving licences. There is no justification for creating a third, centralised system covering the entire adult population.
Once created, such systems have a habit of expanding. What begins as an ID “just for immigration” quickly creeps into other areas of life — employment checks, access to benefits, healthcare, and even, potentially, voting. Each step may be presented as “common sense”, but taken together they amount to a significant erosion of personal freedom and privacy.
A government that cannot control its borders should not be rewarded with greater control over its citizens.
A Recipe for Spiralling Costs
There is also a hard financial reality that ministers are keen to gloss over.
Large-scale government IT projects in the UK have a dismal track record. From NHS systems to border technology, costs routinely spiral far beyond original estimates while delivery is delayed or watered down. There is no reason to believe this scheme will be any different.
Taxpayers deserve transparency. How much will this really cost? Who will build it? How secure will the data be? And what happens when — not if — the bill comes in far higher than promised?
At a time when public finances are under severe strain, embarking on another vast, unproven digital scheme is reckless.
Control the Borders, Not the Population
Reform UK has been clear throughout: the answer to illegal immigration is enforcement, not surveillance of the lawful majority.
That means:
proper border control
swift removal of those with no right to be here
ending incentives that draw people into illegal work
and enforcing the law against employers who exploit the system
What it does not mean is issuing digital papers to every adult citizen in the hope that it looks like progress.
Under Keir Starmer, Britain is being offered more technology, more bureaucracy, more cost — and the same failed outcomes.
Digital ID cards will not fix illegal immigration. They will only make everyday life more intrusive for people who already play by the rules.
Britain does not need digital papers. It needs a government willing to do the hard work it has so far avoided.