Digital ID not a ‘silver bullet’ to tackle illegal migration, minister says

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

Ian Murray said the scheme, set to be rolled out by the end of the current Parliament, is part of a broader push to clamp down on people working illegally in the UK.

The digital government minister pushed back on claims it would be called a “BritCard”, saying “it is not a BritCard”.

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

He admitted the Government had to “make the case” for the scheme and “listen 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’ve been very clear this is not a silver bullet but it does have two major positives in terms of having a mandatory right to work check.

“It means it’s easier for businesses.

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

He added that it would help prevent people “disappearing into the shadow economy”.

The minister, who was sacked as Scottish secretary last month before being given new roles as a minister, pushed back against claims from Scotland’s First Minister that the card was an attempt “to force every Scot to declare ourselves British”.

John Swinney said he would oppose the digital ID scheme and any description of it including the label “BritCard”.

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

“This is actually SNP policy that was signed off with when the First Minister was deputy first minister in 2021,” he said.

“They said they wanted to digitise government, to modernise government, in order for people to be able to access government services easier.

“That’s exactly what this policy is and I think it’s just objection for the First Minister for the sake of objection.”

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

“That was something that was made up before the announcement was made from a think tank from many years ago.

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

Mr Murray said there was a “host of ways nationality could be defined” in digital ID as he pointed to Northern Ireland, where he said people could declare themselves as Irish, British or both.

“So that will have to be taken into account,” he said.

“I’m sure those kinds of discussions with the Welsh and Scottish governments will be exactly the same.”

Ivan McKee, Scotland’s public finance minister, said: “The Scottish Government is opposed to the UK Government’s proposals for mandatory ID cards.

“Ministers have been clear that as well as concerns around privacy, these UK Government proposals would not be a good use of public money at a time when people are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

“ScotAccount is not comparable with what the UK Government is proposing – its use is not mandatory and it does not provide a centralised searchable database of people’s personal information.”