In the 10 years in which the Canary has operated, there has never been any issue on which the British left, right, and centre have been in total agreement. Even during the pandemic, elements of the right saw fit to oppose life-saving vaccines so as not to seem woke. That’s why it’s interesting to see the unprecedented unity in the wake of Starmer’s Digital ID announcement.
I know you’re worried about the level of illegal migration into this country.
Digital ID is another measure to make it tougher to work illegally here, making our borders more secure.
Ours is a fairer Britain, built on change, not division.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 26, 2025
For once, Starmer is right.
There is no ‘division’ on this issue, as everyone hates it except for his sycophants.
Opposition to Digital ID from the left
The leaders of the UK’s left parties both came out in opposition to Digital ID:
I firmly oppose the government’s plans for compulsory digital ID cards.
This is an affront to our civil liberties, and will make the lives of minorities even more difficult and dangerous.
It is excessive state interference — and must be resisted.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 25, 2025
Everyone: What’s government doing about the cost of living crisis, the climate crisis, and the unfolding genocide in Gaza?
Labour: “We will mandate people carry Brit cards”.
This government’s priorities are painfully out of touch and increasingly authoritarian.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) September 25, 2025
Green Party MP Sian Berry noted we’ve tried something similar before:
After being used in WW2 compulsory ID cards were abolished in 1952 because of the widespread sentiment that they are fundamentally at odds with British values and civil liberties.
That was true then and it’s true now. https://t.co/SONTB1ahBE
— Sian Berry (@sianberry) September 25, 2025
Tribune’s Karl Hansen is already trying to follow the money:
The digital ID cards contract will go to Palantir, won’t it? An authoritarian policy dressed up in anti-migrant rhetoric, funnelling public money to a shady American tech firm. You couldn’t invent a more Starmerite scheme. https://t.co/ImrR4imann
— Karl Hansen (@karl_fh) September 25, 2025
Former Labour MP Claudia Webbe was one of many noting that the announcement has the sulphurous stench of Tony Blair all over it:
Big Brother’s Brit Card – Blair’s ghost haunts Britain.
The Tony Blair Institute infiltrates Starmer’s government, pushing digital surveillance. Same neoliberal agenda, new digital chains.
This is authoritarianism. Starmer serves surveillance capitalists, not ordinary people
— Claudia Webbe (@ClaudiaWebbe) September 25, 2025
A Green councillor made a similar point, noting that Starmer is so bereft of ideas he’s having to root through Blair’s refuse for a scrap of a policy:
Big Brother’s Brit Card – Blair’s ghost haunts Britain.
The Tony Blair Institute infiltrates Starmer’s government, pushing digital surveillance. Same neoliberal agenda, new digital chains.
This is authoritarianism. Starmer serves surveillance capitalists, not ordinary people
— Claudia Webbe (@ClaudiaWebbe) September 25, 2025
The Tory Fibs account made this point:
Labour are introducing compulsory Digital ID Cards for two reasons.
So they can sell your data to the big tech corps they signed a deal with last week.
So they can arrest anyone who tweets/posts anything that hurts their feelings.
— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) September 26, 2025
Journalist Luke Savage noted that everything Starmer does seems purposefully designed to push Reform further up the polls, as we’ve discussed:
Starmerism feels like a political science experiment designed to test how quickly a centrist government can lay the groundwork for far right electoral hegemony https://t.co/nnCm1xAnKK
— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) September 25, 2025
Opposition to Digital ID from the right
The leaders of the UK’s two largest right parties both oppose Digital ID:
I am firmly opposed to @Keir_Starmer’s digital ID cards.
It will make no difference to illegal immigration, but it will be used to control and penalise the rest of us.
The state should never have this much power.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) September 25, 2025
Labour’s “Digital ID” gimmick won’t stop the boats. It’s a desperate distraction from their scandals.
We won’t back any system that makes ID mandatory for British citizens.
Only Conservatives have a real plan to secure our borders.
https://t.co/E73aJgdMIg pic.twitter.com/xcuHJr8OqO
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 26, 2025
Other Reform MPs are standing against it too:
Papers please!
Sorry I mean digital ID.
Labour’s latest distraction tactic of digital ID is terrifying and a big NO from me.
– Mass surveillance – Function creep
Combined with CBDC’s you have the perfect tools for control and oppression.
That said, maybe the concern is…
— James McMurdock MP (@JMcMurdockMP) September 25, 2025
Former Reform MP and current shit stirrer Rupert Lowe got straight to work stirring that pot:
I have just submitted a parliamentary motion opposing Digital ID.
All supportive MPs must immediately put aside any petty political differences and come together to oppose such a horrific scheme.
Say NO to Digital ID. pic.twitter.com/IaN1Q3GKte
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) September 25, 2025
Commentator Julia Hartley-Brewer was one of many questioning what purpose Digital ID serves:
I have a driving licence to prove that I have passed a test to drive.
I have a passport to prove my identity and nationality when I travel abroad.
I don’t need to prove who I am to anyone in my own country unless I choose to.
I refuse to have a compulsory digital ID card.
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) September 25, 2025
Christian moustache journalist Lewis Brackpool said this:
I don’t care about left or right, this is the final battle for freedom.
Call it dramatic, but it’s true: we are facing the last stand against digital ID and surveillance.
We must all peacefully resist this.
I don’t want Tony Blair’s globalist vision to become our reality. pic.twitter.com/EVImjqybcJ
— Lewis Brackpool (@Lewis_Brackpool) September 25, 2025
Telegraph editor Annabel Denham described it as ‘Starmer’s worst move’, which is really saying something given all his other moves:
Arguably Starmer’s worst move to date.
Will cost a fortune, take years, produce blunders meaning people can’t check into hotels etc.
It’ll be vulnerable to hacking, power cuts, foreign sabotage. All businesses will need new expensive readers.
And it won’t stop illegals. https://t.co/ZKes6mHPv7
— Annabel Denham (@AnnabelDenham1) September 25, 2025
Opposition from the centre
The Liberal Democrats issued an official statement clarifying their opposition to this reheated dog’s dinner of a policy:
Liberal Democrats cannot support mandatory digital IDs. People shouldn’t be criminalised just because they don’t want to hand over their private data. pic.twitter.com/mEzV7s9vUf
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) September 25, 2025
The SNP’s first minister of Scotland didn’t hesitate opposing Starmer:
I am opposed to mandatory digital ID – people should be able to go about their daily lives without such infringements.
That aside, by calling it BritCard, the Prime Minister seems to be attempting to force every Scot to declare ourselves British.
I am a Scot.
— John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) September 25, 2025
Sorcha Eastwood from the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland also noted she has objections beyond the ‘Britification’ of it all:
I won’t be supporting the Digital ID cards. Not because it’s called the Brit Card. But because it’s a terrible idea for many reasons.
— Sorcha Eastwood MP (@SorchaEastwood) September 25, 2025
Defence from the Starmerites
Starmerite light weight Lisa Nandy attempted to defend Digital ID this morning. In response, people highlighted that Digital ID puts us one stop away from tech-fuelled hyper-authoritarianism (in addition to providing no obvious benefits):
.@owenjonesjourno making that point. pic.twitter.com/ZHhR86bcXY
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 26, 2025
One person defending the indefensible is Newsnight’s former economics editor Paul Mason:
If you don’t see how Palantir-Oracle’s new digital ID system will advance the class struggle, it’s possible you’re not understanding technofeudalism correctly from an arms contractor’s viewpoint. pic.twitter.com/0PGhTL2rUw
— Hon. PolProf of Agile Ceremonies (@CeilNoyle) September 25, 2025
This references Mason’s previous defence of Starmer, which is one of the most infamous tweets of the past few years:
If you don’t think KS will advance the class struggle you’re possibly not understanding social democracy correctly from a Marxist viewpoint
— Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) April 8, 2020
Truly one of the most ‘interesting’ thinkers in Britain today.
Jo White MP, the wife of Labour baron John Mann, attempted to defend Digital ID, but just ended up ‘scaring’ NHS activist Harry Eccles:
A Labour MP here saying that Digital ID will be used to stop the wrong sort of people getting healthcare.
This is against the principles of the NHS. This is against all my ethics as a nurse.
This is incredibly scary. pic.twitter.com/6vDSnmcxyq
— Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) September 25, 2025
In the video, she notes we’ll be using a similar system to Estonia. Another person highlighting European use of Digital ID was journalist Lewis Goodall, who everyone is now learning is married a senior advisor in the Tony Blair institute:
lol https://t.co/fMAQKjCXgj pic.twitter.com/b4N2K12HoS
— c (@_chris_is_tired) September 26, 2025
All together now
It’s unclear how Starmer will push this over the finish line given his historically low approval ratings; his imploding Downing Street operation, and his complete lack of political competence. That doesn’t mean we should all relax, however, as there’s every chance Starmer sees the writing on the wall, and he views this as his last opportunity to make a mark.
With that in mind, let’s all come together to ensure Starmer has no lasting impact on this country.
Featured image via Parliament / 10 Downing Street (Wikimedia) / Parliament / Parliament / Parliament / Bristol Green Party (Wikimedia)
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By Willem Moore
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