Minister says digital ID is not a ‘silver bullet’ to deal with illegal migration

The UK Government’s plans for a digital ID system in the UK will not be a “silver bullet” to end illegal migration, a minister said.

ian murray Said that the plan is set to be implemented by the end of the current ParliamentIt’s part of a wider effort to crack down on people working illegally in the UK.

The Minister for Digital Government rejected claims it would be called a “Britcard”, saying, “It’s not a Britcard”.

Mr Murray also said it was neither “mandatory” nor the card, but later said it would be mandatory “for some purposes”.

He acknowledged that the government had to “make the case” for the scheme and “listen to and address people’s concerns about safety, security and privacy”.

Asked whether it was needed to tackle illegal migration, Mr Murray told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “We are very clear that this is not a silver bullet, but it has two major positives in terms of checking the mandatory right to work.

“This means it is easier for businesses.

“This creates a level playing field and fairness for businesses that always do the right thing but is undercut by those that don’t.”

He said this would help prevent people from “disappearing into the shadow economy”.

The minister, who was sacked as Scottish Secretary last month before being given new roles as a minister, denied claims by Scotland’s First Minister that the card was an attempt to “force every Scot to declare themselves British”.

john swinney He said he would oppose the digital ID plan and any details of it, including the “Britcard” label.

Mr Murray accused the SNP leader of opposing the policy “for the sake of objection”.

“This is actually SNP policy that was signed when the First Minister was Deputy First Minister in 2021,” he said.

“He said he wants to digitize the government, modernize the government, so that people can access government services easily.

“That is exactly the policy and I think it is just an objection for the First Minister to object to.”

Hitting back at claims it would be called “Britcard”, Mr Murray said: “It’s not Britcard.

“This was something that was created several years ago by a think tank before it was announced.

“It is not a Britcard, it will never be called a Britcard and it is never intended to be called a Britcard.”

Mr Murray said digital IDs “have multiple ways of defining nationality”, pointing to Northern Ireland, where he said people could declare themselves as Irish, British or both.

“So that has to be kept in mind,” he said.

“I am sure these types of discussions with the Welsh and Scottish governments will be exactly that.”

Scotland’s Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said: “The scottish government UK government proposals for mandatory ID cards are opposed.

“Ministers have made clear that these are concerns as well as privacy UK government At a time when people are facing cost of living crisis, these proposals would not be a good use of public money.

“ScotAccount cannot be compared to the UK Government proposal – its use is not mandatory and it does not provide a centralized searchable database of people’s personal information.”