Describing digital ID as ‘BritCard’ will get policy off to bad start in Wales, Plaid warn
Describing the UK Government’s new digital ID as a ‘BritCard’ is the surest way to get the policy off to a bad start in Wales, Plaid Cymru has warned.
A new digital identification held on people’s phones will become mandatory as a means of proving the right to work in the UK.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says it will be available to UK citizens and legal residents by the end of this Parliament.
Immigration
The UK Government hopes the proposed IDs will support efforts to reduce illegal immigration by curbing the ability of those who come to the UK illegally to earn money.
The plans will see ID cards being stored on devices in the same way contactless payment cards are.
The ‘BritCard’ would be the authoritative proof of identity and residency status in the UK and include name, date of birth, and a photo as well as information on nationality and residency status.
However, Plaid Cymru have warned against the plans raising concerns about civil liberties and digital exclusion.
‘Bad start’
Plaid Cymru Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts, says that describing the new digital ID as a “BritCard” when most people in Wales identify as “Welsh” will get the policy off to a bad start.
She said: “Plaid Cymru will not support any digital ID system that risks shutting people out of services or eroding civil liberties.
“Wales still has thousands of people who are digitally excluded, and no one should ever be locked out of vital services simply because they don’t have a smartphone or internet access.
“IDs could reduce some of the paperwork people face to access everyday services, but we are not convinced the UK Government’s plans are really about making things easier.
“We are concerned about data security, and we will oppose any system that risks making monetising sensitive personal data for private companies or making it more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
“That’s why we need a proper public debate about whether digital IDs are truly in the public interest. Sadly, the fact this was announced as a dead cat strategy while Parliament is in recess suggests the UK Government has no real interest in an open or democratic debate.
“And let’s get one thing clear: a majority of people in Wales identify as Welsh only.
“Describing this as a ‘BritCard’ is the surest way to get a policy off to a bad start here.”
Wartime
How the scheme will work for those those who do not use smartphones will be addressed as part of the government’s consultation process.
Those who do not want to carry a digital ID card or do not operate digitally could be given a physical card instead, according to The Telegraph.
Mandatory ID cards have previously only existed during wartime.
Sir Keir Starmer says the plans will be an “enormous opportunity” for the UK and make working illegally tougher.
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Dydi cael yr iwnion jac wedi ei blastro ar dop y cerdyn adnabod ddim yn mynd i fynd i lawr o gwbwl!
Cytuno!
I agree with Plaid. This card is another underhand way that deform is influencing the wrong sort of measures here in the UK. And who is footing the bill for this new card anyway?
BritCard? Not for Angles, Saxons, and Jutes then – descendants of the boat people Hengist and Horsa?
It immediately excludes NI which isn’t part of GB, aka Britain. But perhaps they’re planning a border poll first.
Lots of Irish citizens live in North not going to go down well.
Don’t talk blydi rubbish.You can’t have a Border Poll when Stormont is either closed or just Fractious at best when it’s up and running.
Doesn’t Scotland already have an ID card system? If so could something similar be introduced in Wales?
Just another piece of tech that will be a source of income for those geeks and hackers who are already doing a jig around government systems. Honest people are already easily identified; dishonest people will have a new fake card to enable access to all sorts of goodies. Yet another £billion down the drain courtesy of ill thought-out government policy.
By the time this comes in, there may well not be a ‘UK’ or ‘Britain’ in existence. Here’s hoping!
Weren’t we known as Brits before the English came here? The UK was called Britannia by the Romans and I believe it was Albion before that. Having the union jack on it is another matter.
Pytheas of Masalia (modern day Marseille) in the late 4th Century BCE referenced these islands as ‘The Pretanic Islands’ which seems to indicate there were Brythons/P-Celtic speakers here already at that time. The name survives in modern Cymraeg as Prydain, of course.
Yma o Hyd!
No thanks. It’s bad enough we’re being held captive by this joke of an empire as it is.
The proposed ID card will have Name, d.o.b, photo, nationality and residency status. My driving licence has all these details on it so I already have an ID card and don’t need another. Admittedly, it can’t be scanned but this hitch could be removed on future driving licences. I have no smart phone so the ID card would, presumably, not be operable in my case. Furthermore, I strongly object to the ID card having the Union Jack on it as my country, Wales, is disdainfully not represented on it. I would cover it with the red dragon as I do… Read more »
I have no smart phone so the ID card would, presumably, not be operable in my case.
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From the article: Those who do not want to carry a digital ID card or do not operate digitally could be given a physical card instead, according to The Telegraph.
Not much use for non-drivers unfortunately.
Hear hear!! I keep hearing that people who don’t respect the Union Jack are disrespecting the thousands of Welshman who fought and died for the UK. No, it is the lack of Welsh representation that is disrespecting their memories!! Do you think if the union jack who no English, or Scottish representation they would be okay with it? No! So why should we in Wales?
Where do you get a Dragon small enough?
Welsh bookshops or contact Y Lolfa.
We’d better get used to it because when Farage gets in everything will be called Brit
Yes , but not everyone. People of colour will be shown the door.
The enormous opportunity is for the business being lined up to deliver it or hacking potential.
Labour seems not to be proposing to call its digital id a “Britcard”, or indeed any sort of card at all. “Britcard” was a bad idea Labour Together once came up with. So we can all calm down about that particular aspect
It’s mad this is the main point of contention from plaid-the name derived by a think tank or (I think) a tabloid!
Whitehall’s working name was probably Empirecard in readiness for taking back control and enabling freedom of movement within 56 countries.
They aren’t calling it a Britcard. That’s a different former bad idea from Labour Together. There are plenty of things to worry about but the name “Britcard” isn’t one of them.
Why do we need an ID? What a waste of taxpayers money. Proof of citizenship or right to work, isn’t that what passports or residence permits are for?
So that citizens as well as foreigners will be guilty until proven innocent.
Why is it always Labour that wants to bring this in? We rejected this the last time, we still don’t want it.
From what Starmer has said it is not really a digital ID card. It seems to be a digital National Insurance Number card.
Moving the goal posts again, spend resources on ID cards instead of doing something positive about situation at hand.
A good number of EU countries have ID cards. Strangely, they seem to have just as much of a problem with ‘illegal’ immigrants. So the the Morgan Mc Sweeny Regime is planning to bring in a system that has a proven record of not doing what they want. I suppose that fits in nicely with all his other wrong ideas. Whatever happened to evidence based decision making?
After Starmer met with Trump in Jan/Feb of this year. Without the British press in tow, who did he meet with?
Answers on a postcard
Although I have concerns, weighed up the pros & cons, will not accept a digital ID card that has a Union Flag on it. The name is bad enough as it is. But it does not represent my country. End of. It’s like saying to an English man or woman. Accept the German flag on documentation, or else. Dim diolch! 🇬🇧⛔
This isn’t about immigration, it’s about reasserting authority through control. Blair tried to pull a similar stunt but wound up beating a humiliating retreat. This is the same thing with a couple of added nuances.
Please sign the petition against it.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/730194
We only need this to make a success of Brexit so perhaps we could have a vote to choose between ID or reversing the self-sanctioning.
We already have adequate means of checking identity when people apply for a job. Digital ID will not improve our lives in any way, it will simply be used to control us – that is the idea. State wide coercive control. Every time you are asked for that ID its use will be recorded and you can be immediately denied access to that venue or service, including the NHS, if the government so chooses. It will allow the government to punish those who have opinions it does not agree with. It will allow the government to give preferential treatment (access)… Read more »