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Andy Burnham is expected to scrap Keir Starmer’s plans for digital ID cards in a “reset of priorities” when he enters Downing Street on Monday.
The new Labour leader plans to redirect the resources earmarked for the scheme towards tackling the cost of living, his team indicated on Saturday.
The Guardian understands the proposals are being outlined in an attempt to distance the incoming prime minister from unpopular choices made by his predecessor. A petition opposing the introduction of digital ID cards when it was announced last year attracted about 3m signatures.
“One of the first things this government will do is put its focus where people need it right now: creating breathing space and delivering change they can feel in their everyday lives,” Burnham’s spokesperson said.
“That means all the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it’s most needed, such as helping with the cost of living.
“This government is determined to bring power back to communities, instead of hoarding it in Whitehall. We will work every day to lift this country back up to where it belongs – with growth in every postcode, and hope in every heart.”
However, it is unclear how much money the decision to scrap the controversial project will save as Starmer’s government did not set out a clear budget for the initiative.
The Office for Budget Responsibility suggested it could cost about £1.8bn, but its estimate was rejected by officials.
Starmer first announced plans for a digital ID scheme last September, as part of plans to combat illegal working. It was planned to be rolled out by 2029.
He said the proposed “Brit card” would be compulsory for those who needed to prove they were allowed to work in the UK amid growing fears about illegal immigration.
The cards were to detail the holder’s residency status, name, date of birth and nationality, alongside their photograph.
Starmer billed the rollout as “an enormous opportunity for the UK” and said the ID cards “will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure”.
Tony Blair’s government passed legislation designed to facilitate the introduction of ID cards in 2006, to the anger of many privacy campaigners. His plans never came into force and were ultimately scrapped by the coalition government in 2011.
The Tony Blair Institute, set up by the former prime minister after his departure from frontline politics, was one of several Labour-aligned thinktanks to welcome the fresh proposals put forward by Starmer.
“Make no mistake, if the government announces a universal digital ID to help improve our public services, it would be one of the most important steps taken by this or any government to make British citizens’ everyday lives easier and build trust,” its director of government innovation, Alexander Iosad, said.
However, the plans attracted widespread backlash from opposition politicians and civil rights groups.
The Conservative MP David Davis said: “No system is immune to failure, and we have seen time and again governments and tech giants fail to protect people’s personal data. If world-leading companies cannot protect our data, I have little faith that Whitehall would be able to do better.”
The party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, did not take a definitive position but described the policy as a “throwaway” announcement “designed to distract attention from Andy Burnham’s leadership manoeuvrings”.
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The Liberal Democrats added that the party could not get behind “a mandatory digital ID where people are forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives”.
Jim Killock, from the Open Rights Group, said Labour was “at risk of creating a digital surveillance infrastructure that will change everyone’s daily lives and establish a pre-crime state where we constantly have to prove who we are”.
In the face of this criticism, the government rolled back plans for ID cards earlier this year, and clarified that they would be voluntary, with workers able to verify their identities using existing documents such as passports.
In May, Karen Bradley, the Conservative chair of the home affairs select committee, said that while there was some merit to the scheme, the announcement had been “a fiasco” that “made little sense” to the public.
“It raised fears of government overreach into people’s lives and was so poorly thought-out that they had few answers to ease these concerns,” she said.
Sources close to Burnham said that, despite the decision, he remained committed to the previous government’s “crackdown” on illegal working, which led to almost 9,000 arrests last year.
Right-to-work checks are expected to remain mandatory for all employers, with new legislation expected to extend verification to the gig economy, including parcel couriers and delivery drivers.
The Lib Dem cabinet office spokesperson, Lisa Smart, said: “People will be hugely relieved to know they are no longer set to be forced to hand over their data just to go about their daily lives.
“We have long said the obscene sums earmarked for digital ID would be a huge waste of taxpayers’ money, and it’s a relief that Burnham has woken up to that.”
The decision to ditch the scheme entirely is likely to cause further disquiet among technology experts, who are already angry at proposals to abolish the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of a wider Whitehall shake-up.
Burnham has asked officials to draw up plans that would see much of the department absorbed into a more powerful business department.
