| Dear John,
This week, Keir Starmer has unveiled plans for a mandatory digital ID system.
Under Labour’s proposals, every adult in the UK would be required to prove their right to live and work here via a government app or risk being locked out of employment and housing.
The Liberal Democrats cannot and will not support a system where people are forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives, where ordinary parts of life are turned into "papers please" moments, policed by a centralised state database.
A mandatory digital ID also risks entrenching discrimination. People shouldn’t be turned into criminals just because they can’t have a digital ID, or choose not to. This will be especially worrying to millions of older people, people living in poverty and disabled people - who are more likely to be digitally excluded.
The scheme is set to cost the taxpayer billions, all while creating chaos and confusion. Time and again we’ve seen government technology projects spiral out of control, with huge budgets and little to show for it.
Just imagine if this level of urgency and investment were instead going into cutting GP waiting times, fixing social care, or tackling the housing crisis. These are the issues that urgently need attention.
Instead, the Labour Party is reviving its decades-long obsession with ID cards, regardless of the cost to the taxpayer, the risks to civil liberties, or the people it leaves behind.
The Liberal Democrats believe in a free, inclusive society where your rights aren’t conditional. This is state overreach, plain and simple and we’ll fight these plans every step of the way.
Please add your name to our petition calling on the Government to cancel its plans for mandatory Digital ID, and share it with your friends and family: |
