Digital ID petition smashes TWO MILLION signature mark as Britons fight back against Keir Starmer's plan

Among the most engaged constituencies include Nigel Farage's seat of Clacton, with the Prime Minister also facing a local fight from thousands of residents in his own seat of Holborn & St Pancras.

However, the largest number of signatures so far have come from Labour-held seats, mostly in the North East of England.

Hartlepool, which was won by Jonathan Brash in the 2024 General Election, raced into the lead - and as of Friday night, boasted the second-highest number of sign-ups.

Meanwhile, Alyn & Deeside, Bolsover, Easington, Jarrow & Gateshead East, and Whitehead & Workington all surged early on.

Houghton & Sunderland South, which is home to prospective Labour deputy leader Bridget Phillipson's seat, was on course to reach 4,000 signatures by the weekend.

The one million signature milestone was reached just hours after Sir Keir unveiled his proposal to introduce mandatory digital ID cards during a keynote speech.

"You will not be able to work in the UK if you don't have a digital ID, it's as simple as that," the Prime Minister told attendees at the Global Progress Action Summit in London.

The card, which is reportedly called a "Brit Card", should be able to verify an individual’s right to live and work in the UK.

However, the ID card will need to undergo a consultation and would require legislation to implement.

Sir Keir's Government began looking at proposals for some form of digital ID for adults in Britain as illegal migrants continued to cross the Channel in their droves.

Ministers believe the scheme could prove vital in tackling illegal migrants working in the black economy.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has already voiced her support for digital ID cards.

Speaking earlier this month, Ms Mahmood confirmed she has "always been in favour" of the scheme.

The Home Secretary added: “In fact, I supported the last Labour Government’s introduction of ID cards.

"The first bill I spoke on in Parliament was the ID cards bill, which the then Conservative-Lib Dem coalition scrapped.”

However, civil liberties groups have also put pressure on the Home Office not to reintroduce digital ID cards.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the group of organisations said: “Mandatory digital ID is highly unlikely to achieve the Government’s objective of tackling unauthorised immigration.

“The proposed schemes fundamentally misunderstand the ‘pull factors’ that drive migration to the UK and would do very little to tackle criminal people-smuggling gangs or employers and landlords who operate ‘off the books’.

“Instead, it would push unauthorised migrants further into the shadows, into more precarious work and unsafe housing.”

Big Brother Watch's interim director, Rebecca Vincent, also warned the scheme would be “uniquely harmful to privacy, equality and civil liberties”.

However, ex-Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair has been pushing for the reintroduction of digital ID cards over recent years.

Sir Tony's think tank this week published a report that suggested there is growing public support for a “super-digital identity card” which would allow people to access public services and report problems in their local area.

Polling conducted by More in Common last November also found that 53 per cent of Britons support the introduction of digital ID cards, with just 19 per cent against.

More than two-thirds of 2024 Tory voters backed the proposal, with 60 per cent of Labour supporters and 59 per cent of Reform UK backers also supporting digital ID cards.

Despite growing support, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has come out against the introduction of digital ID.

Mr Farage said: "All that digital ID will be is a means of controlling the population, of telling us what we can and can't do, of fining the innocent. And didn't we see it all when we had the pandemic when you had to have vaccine ID to travel, to do various things?

"Did that stop the Covid pandemic spreading? Did it hell. All it did was put cost and inconvenience on everyone else. I also worry about massive data banks being held by the Government being hacked by foreign governments, by private companies, by criminals.

"I do not see a single benefit to the Government having digital ID, other than them controlling what we do, what we spend and where we go."

Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch stopped short of taking a side on digital ID.

She instead warned: “This announcement is a desperate gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats.

"There are arguments for and against digital ID, but mandating its use would be a very serious step that requires a proper national debate.

"Instead, this is a throwaway conference announcement designed to distract attention from Andy Burnham’s leadership maneuverings and the crisis in Downing Street over the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff."

The Liberal Democrats have also come out against digital ID cards.