Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces MPs for Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday after his government signaled a major U-turn on mandatory digital IDs for right-to-work checks. The policy reversal marks the latest in a series of backtracking decisions by the Labour Government.
The government has backed away from making digital IDs compulsory for employers to verify workers' right to work in the UK, a flagship policy Sir Keir Starmer announced on the eve of last year's Labour Party conference. The U-turn leaves open the possibility that other forms of ID could be used for digital right-to-work checks, with the digital ID program potentially becoming entirely voluntary.
The timing of the reversal proved particularly awkward. Health Secretary Wes Streeting had told a conference in London just hours earlier that ministers should "get it right first time."
Last week, the government also U-turned on additional support for pubs facing large business rates increases.
Opposition Attacks
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake seized on the reversal to attack the government's consistency. "Labour's only consistent policy is retreat and it's the public that are paying the price for a government defined by reversal," he said. "Labour entered office without a plan and now lacks the backbone to stand by their own decisions – lurching from one U-turn to the next as the consequences of their choices become clear."
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart mocked the government's policy shifts. "Number 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns," she said. "It was clear right from the start this was a proposal doomed to failure, that would have cost obscene amounts of taxpayers' money to deliver absolutely nothing."
Falling Public Support
Public backing for digital ID collapsed after Sir Keir Starmer's initial announcement, dropping from 53% in June to just 31% in October.
The government had insisted as recently as Tuesday that it remained committed to the mandatory scheme.
A government spokesman had stated on Tuesday: "We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks. Currently right-to-work checks include a hodgepodge of paper-based systems with no record of checks ever taking place. This is open to fraud and abuse." The spokesman added that details would be set out following a full public consultation, which will launch shortly.
The government designed the original policy to crack down on illegal immigration. Sir Keir Starmer had said at the time that those without proper digital verification "will not be able to work in the United Kingdom."
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
