Jasmine Birtles
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BritCard or Big Brother? Keir Starmer’s Digital ID Plan — What It’ll Cost, Who It Affects, and Whether It’ll Work
Vicky Parry
25th Sep 2025
Keir Starmer’s government is preparing to roll out a UK-wide digital ID scheme — but will it save money, or cost us more in the long run? And will it actually work to cut illegal immigration and fraud as the government wants us to think?
MoneyMagpie CEO Jasmine Birtles emphatically thinks not. See the end of this article for her furious response.
What Is the BritCard Proposal?
Keir Starmer is planning to introduce a digital identity system for all legal residents of the UK. The proposal, informally dubbed “BritCard,” would assign individuals a secure digital ID stored via a government app — likely a version of the existing gov.uk Wallet — to verify identity, immigration status, right to work, rent, and access services.
The aim? To modernise how we verify identity, while cracking down on illegal immigration, fraud, and exploitation in the job and housing markets.
The system wouldn’t be issued to people without legal status — i.e. undocumented migrants or those whose visas or asylum claims have expired — but it would make it harder for them to live and work undetected.
Who Is This For? (And Who It’s Not)
Before diving into costs and controversy, it’s important to distinguish between two often-conflated groups:
✅ Asylum Seekers:
- People who legally request protection due to persecution or danger in their home country.
- They may arrive by any route (legal or illegal) but become part of a legal process once they claim asylum.
- While their claim is being assessed, they have temporary protections.
❌ Illegal Immigrants:
- Those who are in the UK without legal right to remain — either they entered illegally, overstayed a visa, or stayed after their asylum claim was denied.
- Not entitled to work or access most services, but may stay undetected if enforcement is weak.
The digital ID won’t apply to undocumented migrants — but aims to make it harder for them to operate in the UK’s shadow economy.
How Much Will the Digital ID Scheme Cost?
This is where things get murky — and where we go deeper than most reports.
Official Estimates? None Yet
Despite media reports, the government has admitted it has not fully costed the scheme. There’s no published White Paper or budget line item yet.
However, third-party estimates give us a window into what it might cost:
| Estimate Source | Setup Cost | Annual Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Together (think tank) | £400 million | £5–10 million | Base infrastructure only (doesn’t include wider system upgrades) |
| Institute for Global Change | £1 billion | £100 million | Claims breakeven within 3 years, potential £2bn/year return |
| Past UK ID Scheme (2006–2010) | £5.4–19.2 billion | N/A | Ultimately scrapped due to high cost and privacy concerns |
⚠️ Caution: None of these estimates include the full cost of enrolment, appeals, system integration, staff training, or user support.
Will It Save the Economy Money?
That’s the government’s hope — but the jury’s still out.
Potential Benefits
- Cutting down illegal work: Stronger checks could stop illegal employment and reduce exploitation.
- Reducing fraud: Could save billions across welfare, tax credits, NHS misuse, and more.
- Making services more efficient: Easier onboarding, less paperwork, faster approvals.
Potential Pitfalls
- Implementation cost overruns: Past UK digital projects (e.g. ID Cards, Gov.uk Verify) ballooned well beyond their budgets.
- Limited impact: Many undocumented migrants are visa overstayers — not likely to be stopped at point-of-work checks alone.
- Fraud migration: Illegal activity may shift elsewhere (fake documents, black market jobs).
Immigration Numbers: How Big Is the Problem?
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total asylum claims (2024–25) | 111,084 | Home Office |
| Asylum system backlog | 90,000+ cases | Migration Observatory |
| People here illegally (estimated) | Unknown (but likely hundreds of thousands) | Not officially published |
| Forced removals (2024–25) | <8,000 | Home Office |
One think tank estimates that over 50% of rejected asylum seekers since 2010 are still in the UK — a statistic now being cited to justify tighter identity controls. But these numbers are difficult to verify and often used for political purposes.
Past Attempts: Did They Work?
Britain’s history with ID schemes isn’t promising.
️ 2006: Labour’s National ID Card
- Biometric cards linked to a National Identity Register.
- Planned to cost £5.4 billion. Later studies suggested up to £19 billion.
- Faced huge backlash over privacy, function creep, and cost.
- Scrapped in 2010. All ID cards invalidated. Data register destroyed.
Gov.uk Verify (2013–2021)
- Digital identity project to verify access to government services.
- Spent over £200 million before being abandoned.
- Poor adoption, technical issues, and failure to integrate.
The lesson? Even well-intentioned ID schemes can flop — hard — if trust, usability and scope aren’t carefully managed.
️ Arguments For and Against
✅ Supporters Say:
- Helps tackle illegal working, housing, and fraud.
- Modernises identity verification in a digital world.
- Could prevent Windrush-style injustices by keeping better records.
- Allows targeted support, like energy grants or NHS services, only to those eligible.
❌ Critics Warn:
- Privacy risks: Centralised identity = more risk of abuse, leaks, or overreach.
- Exclusion: Those without smartphones, bank accounts, or documents could be locked out.
- Function creep: Once it exists, ID checks could be expanded to everyday life.
- False promises: May not deter migration, especially from warzones or persecution.
A coalition of civil rights groups including Big Brother Watch has called on Starmer to abandon plans for mandatory digital ID, warning it could “fundamentally alter the relationship between the citizen and the state.”
️ When Will It Happen?
Here’s a rough outline based on current reporting:
| Year | What’s Happening |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Announcement and consultation process |
| 2026 | Legislation and pilot schemes |
| 2027–28 | Phased rollout (possibly starting with landlords/employers) |
| 2029+ | National coverage (if successful) |
But this depends on public response, legislation passing, and overcoming major technical challenges. The scheme could be delayed — or dropped — if it loses political momentum.
MoneyMagpie Takeaway: Should You Worry About This?
This scheme could go two ways:
- A quietly useful tool, if designed right, privacy-protected, and easy to use — helping reduce fraud and modernise services.
- Or, an expensive white elephant that fails to deliver, opens doors to surveillance, and burdens everyday users with more digital red tape.
For consumers, the key questions are:
- Will this save money, or create hidden costs?
- Will it be voluntary or mandatory for accessing services?
- How will it protect your data, and can you opt out?
- Will those without digital access be excluded or penalised?
Until we see a full White Paper — with proper costings, safeguards, and a roadmap — treat this as a “wait and see”. There’s potential, but there are serious risks.
MoneyMagpie CEO Jasmine Birtles says she’s furious
“How dare they try to impose Digital slavery on us,” she says, “because that is what it is. It is Lockdown all over again but this time worse because it is Digital Lockdown. They must think we are stupid if they think we will believe that this is to curb illegal immigration or, as the Tony Blair Institute says, to help people report potholes. Potholes! They really are getting desperate.
“I will be using all my platforms to protest this and I will be refusing a Digital ID. I suggest that you do too because we are the people and if we refuse to have Digital ID there is nothing they can do. Just say NO to Digital ID”
What to Watch Out For
- A formal cost/benefit analysis from HM Treasury
- Legal safeguards for data privacy and appeals
- Independent oversight, and whether a regulator is appointed
- Whether the scheme becomes de facto mandatory for essential services (like renting or banking)
- How the system will support those with low digital access
Sources
- Institute for Global Change – Economic case for digital ID
- Labour Together – Migration proposals
- PublicTechnology.net – Minister admits costs not assessed
- Big Brother Watch – Civil liberties response
- Migration Observatory – Asylum data
- Home Office – Immigration stats 2025
I can’t see how it’s a bad thing (other than the initial set up cost), and think only people with something to hide are against it. I personally don’t understand why people arnt assigned a digital ID at birth in this day and age, instead of a paper birth certificate which is outdated.