This Labour government knows it must transform, or ‘rewire’, the British state if it is to be successful. The crude levers of tax and spend will not be sufficient. A different approach is needed to rebuild faith in the benign effect of government and politics.
Truly embracing the potential of digital ID is an important place to start. The FT’s recent editorial advocating the case was welcome and the influential thinktank Labour Together has also argued that the government should introduce digital ID. This followed an intervention from several former home secretaries and prime ministers, of different political colours, arguing that the time has come.
The benefits are clear from international comparisons: offering more tailored public services in a health and educational setting, delivering a fairer welfare state and providing more tools to control borders.
It is estimated to boost the Treasury’s coffers by around £2 billion a year and assist HMRC in confronting tax avoidance. As AI transforms our use and analysis of data in the public sector, having a single digital ID would also offer the UK government with huge competitive advantages.
New challenges emerge for which digital ID would contribute to the answer. The dangers of social media for individuals, but also wider society, security and politics are becoming increasingly clear and government will have to act. The effects of online harm and the addictive nature of smartphone apps for young people is now a huge concern across the world - Australia have just banned smartphones for under 16s. Digital ID would allow government to regulate this space far more effectively.
It will also help us protect democratic principles. If 2024 was the year of democracy, with around half the world holding elections, then the effect of AI-created false information, influencers and algorithms still need to be explored.
But we know that disinformation plays a central role in the spread of violence and terror - look at the riots last summer. Better and stronger regulation will require digital ID. Without it, the internet will remain increasingly toxic and lawless. Indeed, the adoption of digital ID is happening already, but in a siloed and unambitious manner.
The Home Office is overseeing the introduction of e-visas. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is developing One Login to enable a single sign-in to government services. The Department for Education has proposed legislation that includes provision for each new child born to receive a unique form of identification to bolster child protection (as further advocated by the children’s commissioner in the aftermath of the sentencing of the killers of Sara Sharif).
If the benefits for public services are clear and the tools for a transition to universal digital ID are available, the political imperative is even more pressing. For progressives, an ineffectual state is an existential threat. The relationship between the citizen and the state is severely frayed. From renewing a driving licence, to making an enquiry with HMRC, to simply booking an appointment with your local GP, the process is often tortuous.
There are currently over 200 ways in which you can set up an account to engage with national and local services. In the context of the highest tax burden in decades, it is no surprise people are increasingly exasperated with government and, by proxy, politicians. This is compounded by news from across the public realm.
The NHS has the longest waiting lists, the prisons are full, the courts face unprecedented backlogs and our school buildings are collapsing. Nothing works anymore. Ambitious, widespread digital ID can begin to rebuild trust partly because it would empower citizens.
There will be naysayers. But the mass collation of data and the expansion of digital ID is already happening – in the public and private sector. The cybersecurity and civil liberty threats already exist and will develop. The decision is whether to undertake the exercise comprehensively, with appropriate regulation, or, as is too often the case in the history of the British state, let it develop in a staggered and haphazard manner. Lead the way, or try and keep up.
Now is the time to be ambitious. In 2025, Labour should announce plans to introduce a mandatory digital ID to transform the state and give back control to the citizen.
Jake Richards is the Labour MP for Rother Valley