Portsmouth council votes to oppose government’s digital ID proposals
Concerns surrounding digital IDs dismissed as “complete and utter nonsense” in Portsmouth City Council debate.
Portsmouth City Council has opposed the government’s proposal for digital ID cards following a heated debate at a recent full council meeting.
Cllr Kimberley Barrett introduced a motion criticising the Labour government’s plan for the introduction of digital ID cards. The proposed IDs aim to combat illegal working. The government has said it intends to make them mandatory for right-to-work checks by the end of the current parliament, but not for any other purpose.
In September, Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the scheme as an “enormous opportunity” to make it “tougher to work illegally” while “making our borders more secure”.
However, Cllr Barrett said the new IDs are a “top concern” for many, with a number of residents in her ward expressing “upset or outrage” over the plans.
She cited worries around privacy, public trust in data use, possible penalties for not owning an ID, and the potential cost to the public purse.
Cllr Barrett also warned that such IDs could deepen digital exclusion among marginalised groups such as older people, those on low incomes, and residents with disabilities.
Cllr Simon Bosher, leader of the Conservative group, echoed these concerns and pointed to “high profile hacks” the country has experienced this year, including those affecting Jaguar, Marks & Spencer and Heathrow Airport.
Cllr Hugh Mason also criticised the scheme, stating that a required national identity register is something normally seen in “dictatorial states” or in states with an “exceedingly strong central government which interferes in every aspect in people’s lives”.
Labour councillor Graham Heaney described the motion’s wording as partly inaccurate and hysterical, stressing that the card would not be mandatory beyond demonstrating an individual’s right to work.
He argued that government databases already exist and are not in themselves signs of a “totalitarian state” – “It is the way in which it is used is the issue,” he added.
Cllr Heaney said residents were worried because “no one is talking about this in a sensible way. We’re all saying ‘if you’re on a database you’ll be under the Stasi tomorrow’. It’s complete and utter nonsense.”
He added that he would reserve his position until the government sets out how the scheme will be implemented.
The motion was carried, recording the council’s official opposition to the introduction of digital IDs.