Digital ID cards would be good for Britain – and a secret weapon for Labour against Reform | Polly Toynbee

The BritCard project would cut down on bureaucracy, help guard our borders and prove Labour has pride in British identity “Papers please!” Those words strike terror in a thousand war movies. Stasi or Gestapo officers are a breed apart from the unarmed plod who demands no ID cards from free British people. So when the government contemplates a universal ID, it sends instinctive twitches down some spines.Though not many. Times and public attitudes have changed. And so have the political imperatives, for it seems that, for a Labour government struggling to seize the narrative after a difficult year in power, digital ID cards – and the sense of national belonging they could strengthen – may just be the weapon needed to fight off the ever-rising threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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