Cooper defends prospect of digital ID for children as young as 13

Yvette Cooper has defended the prospect of digital ID for children as young as 13 amid warnings of “state overreach,” saying many teenagers already use similar forms of identification.

The Foreign Secretary insisted the “standardised” system was “the right way forward” as she sought to reassure the public following a wave of opposition to the scope of the proposals.

Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to widen his plans the technology, which ministers had said would be used primarily to tackle illegal migration, to include management of public services like benefits and bills payments.

In its response to a petition against the measures, which has been signed by more than 2.8 million people, the Government said the system would cover everyone aged 16 or over but “we will consider through consultation if this should be age 13 and over”.

Critics have argued the extension of the scheme to younger teenagers would be a “sinister” step towards state overreach and voiced concerns about mission creep.

Speaking to broadcasters on Friday morning, Ms Cooper said similar forms of identification are already widely used and suggested the plans would offer consistency.

“Everybody has forms of digital ID, don’t they, now?” she said on LBC.

“I mean, we all have different ways of having to prove who we are.”

“Lots of 13-year-olds already do (have a form of digital ID) and what the department is going to be consulting on is exactly how that should be taken forward.

“I do think that this is the right way forward, to have this standardised process now, and it’s something that we had been already setting out for people who come to work from abroad.”

During his trip to India this week, Sir Keir praised the country’s Aadhaar digital ID system, which is far more extensive than the plans initially announced for the UK and involves the storing of biometric data, as a “massive success”.

He signalled Britain could use the technology for services like banking, pointing to New Delhi’s scheme as an example, and said ministers must “make the case” for the “huge benefits” the scheme could offer.

No 10 said Britain’s system would not necessarily copy India’s biometric data usage and signalled the UK scheme would be run by the public sector.

Digital ID appears to have become less popular among Britons since Sir Keir unveiled plans in September to make the technology mandatory to prove the right to work in the UK.

Public support plummeted from 53% in favour and 19% opposed in June to 31% in favour and 45% opposed following the announcement, polling from More in Common suggests.

The Liberal Democrats said including younger teenagers in the scheme was “unnecessary”.

“This is proof that the Liberal Democrats were absolutely right to warn about mission creep,” the party’s technology spokeswoman Victoria Collins said.

“The Government is already plotting to drag teenagers into a mandatory digital ID scheme before it’s even off the ground. It’s frankly sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.”

Silkie Carlo, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, questioned the need for enrolling children into the system.

“At a time when parents are taking a critical view of whether children should have smartphones, it is shocking that the Government is considering enrolling children into this digital ID app,” she said.