Council opposes plans for compulsory digital ID

PLANS to introduce compulsory digital ID have been opposed by South Oxfordshire District Council.

They are expected to be rolled out to all citizens and to those who want to work in the UK and are designed to help combat illegal working and make it easier to use government services.

The motion was brought forward by the Liberal Democrats, the ruling party, at a council meeting held on Thursday last week.

The council believes the scheme is: “An expensive measure that will undermine public trust, do nothing to address the actual challenges facing residents and fails to protect our core British values of liberty, privacy and fairness.”

It also believes surveillance activity disproportionately targets and impacts vulnerable and marginalised groups, including women.

Councillor Mike Giles, who put forward the motion, said: “Labour’s mandatory ID scheme comes with a host of privacy, data security and digital inclusion concerns.

“South Oxfordshire has voted to protect the interests of local residents, by opposing mandatory ID, rogue state surveillance and the use of biometric technology.

“Liberal Democrats will always stand up for civil liberties, and I am pleased South Oxfordshire has become the first council to oppose these intrusive plans.” Maggie Filipova-Rivers, who seconded the motion, said the policy is a “dangerous distraction [which] will chip away at our freedom”.

She said: “The announcement was largely due to pressure from Reform, and Labour’s seemingly relentless creep to the right of the political spectrum.

“We’re told a digital ID would make enforcement easier but, let’s be honest, those who already hire or rent ‘off-the-books’ aren’t suddenly going to comply because the rest of us are forced to carry a digital ID.

“Instead, this policy will push unauthorised migrants further into the shadows — and that helps no one. Some argue that people today are more comfortable sharing personal data, but such systems concentrate power in the hands of the Government, and once such a system is built, it’s almost impossible to dismantle.

“So let’s call this what it is: a dangerous distraction. It won’t solve illegal migration, but it will chip away at our freedom.”

The council agreed to write to the Home Secretary and the Minister for Digital Infrastructure, calling for the plans to be scrapped and for the existing ban on the procurement of surveillance equipment to be extended to China.

The government will launch a public consultation on the plans by the end of the year.