Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid confronted Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on Wednesday over the government's apparent U-turn on mandatory digital ID for right-to-work checks. The clash erupted after Sir Keir Starmer's administration ditched plans announced last September to require a free digital ID for employment eligibility.
Reid pressed Alexander on the reversal, stating: 'Mandatory ID, digital ID. Why was it a good idea last September and then just a couple of months later, completely ditched as a bad idea?' The minister initially defended digital ID, but Reid corrected her: 'No, mandatory. Mandatory, legal requirement.'
Alexander argued the government still intends to introduce mandatory digital right-to-work checks, allowing workers to prove eligibility via a free digital ID or biometric chip on an E-Visa. However, Reid countered that such checks already exist and accused the minister of 'skipping over words.'
The exchange grew heated as both spoke over each other, with Reid apologising for interrupting but insisting the policy had been abandoned. Alexander maintained the government is digitising the current paper-based system, which she described as a 'complete mish-mash.'
