Ministers have launched a charm offensive to win over sceptical Labour MPs to back the digital ID scheme, asking MPs to offer ideas about how it could improve public services. The outreach is part of a broader loyalty and delivery drive to soothe tensions after a fractious few months for the government.
Several cabinet ministers have said the government needs to make the case for a wider digital identity system. The aim is for the ID cards to be rolled out before the next election and initially used to prove people’s right to work, before being expanded to store health and benefits data to streamline access to public services and tackle fraud.
MPs who met ministers and officials on Tuesday were told it would be a federated system – akin to one built for the NHS – which means that data is distributed across multiple independent but connecting systems. About 50 MPs attended the session with the technology minister Ian Murray and Cabinet office minister Josh Simons. “The main thing everyone in the room wanted to know was the cost,” one MP said. “And no one can even give us a ballpark.”
Some close to the process said ministers were aware of the political risk of the scheme, estimating that about 50 MPs could rebel if a vote were held now, and that the number could double once details are ironed out. MPs who had read the original Labour Together proposal for a BritCard – which has formed the basis of the government’s policy – said the cost calculations in that were “laughably low” at £150m.
But several said they were pleased to see the degree of MP engagement. “Look, everyone felt this was sprung on us,” one MP said. “And it did feel like this would be welfare all over again but in fact they are engaging us quite a lot. So I am cautiously optimistic.” Key backers in the room for the scheme included a number of the “red wall” MPs.
Ministers said they hoped the digital ID scheme would allow quicker identification of gang leaders or bosses employing illegal workers, citing nail bars and car washes as examples. But MPs in the room suggested it would be most helpful if used for the benefits system – such as preventing the Department for Work and Pensions from making overpayments. Murray is said to have ruled out digital IDs being used to hold data from the NHS and said police would not be allowed to demand to see them.
