Keir Starmer has claimed that his controversial digital ID scheme will in fact not be mandatory, unless you wish to apply to or change jobs.
The digital ID was proposed in September of this year to widely mixed reactions from the British public.
The basis of the proposal was mainly to tackle illegal employment and make verification easier, as well as simplify verification of who you are.
Some have raised concerns that people who do not have access to mobile phones will be left out, to which Starmer assured there would be physical options.
He also made clear that it is not mandatory and said:
“For people who simply don’t want it, well, they don’t need it – apart from the right to work.”
While Starmer is adamant this will improve the country, there has been major backlash with 2.9 million people signing a petition that calls for the scheme to be scrapped.
We spoke to the Bournemouth public to see how they feel about the scheme and whether they believe it will be positive or negative for the UK.
Sophie, 22, said: “I don’t mind it really, everything is digital now anyway. If it actually does make things easier then that’s alright I think.”
David, 47, said: “It’s hard to trust it isn’t it, once the government has all our data in one place it’ll only be a matter of time until someone hacks the system.”
Callum, 19, said: “My nan doesn’t even have a phone, so I don’t know how the older generation are going to adapt to it.”
What do you think, are digital IDs going to be a good thing or are you not a fan of the scheme?
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