As I write the issue of the potential introduction of Digital ID cards is breaking. The details (and the Devil is always within the detail) remain scant. So, rather than rush to a thumbs up or thumbs down response I will await to see the details. A lot has happened with regards to how we use and handle our data since Mr Blair first tried to introduce them. We carry much more of ‘us’ on our person in digital form every day. The anxiety that some form of digital ID creates a ‘papers please’ society is understandable, but I believe misplaced. Indeed, I was heartened to hear Big Brother Watch (a civil rights championing organisation) declare that this did not make the UK North Korea. I know too from speaking to officials in France and from migrants themselves that the presence of ID cards on the Continent increases, by their absence, the pull towards our Country. As a people we have asked the Government to use every weapon in its arsenal to deter and reduce illegal entry to the Country. Having asked it to do so, it would be churlish to dismiss out of hand the creation of a proof of citizenship and rights, if there is a clear case that it would help in the task of deterring illegal immigration.
However, and there is usually an however, in political debate, I well remember when I was a PPS at the Home Office some MPs coming to ask the department to introduce a new law to ban a particular activity. We were not convinced and asked civil servants to see if there were any existing laws that would do the job. There were. In fact, there were two sides of A4 which did exactly the job in hand. It is already illegal to employ or let a house to someone who is not here legally. There are already rules which cover access to a whole range of public and social services. The existing rules merely need robust enforcement. Increase fines. Stiff prison sentences. Confiscation of assets. All could be used to put the onus of the lawbreaking employer etc. In any case, my clear belief is that for those who already break the rules by employing or letting etc they will not be deterred by a digital ID card. The Black Economy has always been with us and, with regrets, it always will be. With the recent cyber attack on M&S, the nursery chain Kiddo and the debilitating impact of one on Jaguar Land Rover the robustness of the security arrangements needed to support such a massive national project need to be set out clearly. Unfortunately, HMG plc does not start from a good place of proven track record when it comes to handling and delivering huge and complex IT projects. The Government’s communications have been woeful in trying to set out the hurdles to / how to overcome them, and UK societal benefits of an ID card. I have told a senior Minister this in unambiguous terms. At a time when the national finances are under huge pressure and Growth further away, we will also need to know the costs of both introduction and maintenance. A full Cost Benefit analysis is needed to inform properly the debate.
So, for the moment from me it’s a watch this space. I was opposed, fundamentally to the first proposal but digital tech has changed, and the scale of the immigration challenge increased. Let’s not be like Reform and first advocate for and then oppose a card: the Pushme / Pullyou bandwagon jumpers of UK political debate. Nor, like the Lib Dems who, Vestal Virgin-like, will wang on about principles of abstract liberty. The proposal deserves a big national conversation and a much deeper understanding of the whys and the wherefores than Sir Keir has been prepared to give the Country to date.
