We must have the right not to “digitally verify” in order to participate in society.
No Login to Live
When Keir Starmer announced in September 2025 that the government was bringing in “mandatory Digital ID Cards”, or a “Britcard”, to “stop the boats,” the British public sent a clear message back: no.
Almost three million signatures showed that this is not how we do things in Britain. The Prime Minister was forced into another embarrassing U-turn, saying it would no longer be compulsory.
The level of fury that met the announcement could only surprise a technocratic elite that is out of touch with much of the British public. Britain has never wanted national ID cards. In 1952, Winston Churchill dispensed with the wartime National Identity Card, having campaigned under the slogan “Set the people free.”
Brits knew the attempt to pretend digital ID would somehow “stop the boats” of illegal migrants was utter nonsense. France, Italy and Germany all have digital ID cards and still face significant problems with illegal migration. The ridicule that was heaped on the Prime Minister was the best of British.
It is fantastic that so many people made their voices heard loud and clear — indeed, on this issue from all sides of the political spectrum, not least within the Labour Party itself and on the back benches. The Together Association, of which I am Co-Founder and Chair, staged a protest outside Labour Party Conference saying #NoToDigitalID. Citizens, along with farmers, also covered Parliament with an illuminated projection saying “No to Digital ID.”
However, as we soon heard from Darren Jones, digital ID has not “gone away.” It would now be used as a matter of “making life convenient,” to prevent having to look for documents in a drawer.
They Backed Down — But Didn’t Stop
The attempt to impose national ID cards on the British public has been a particular obsession of Tony Blair and the Tony Blair Institute. Having spent hundreds of millions of pounds on a botched attempt and several tries, it was moribund in 2010. Since then, Tony Blair has been peddling this idea continuously, attempting to use the draconian climate during lockdowns to push for “more freedoms for those with a vaccine passport.”
At Together, we all managed to push back against so-called vaccine passports and, through the efforts of concerted campaigning across Britain, saw them off, along with any vaccine mandate for health workers. However, the weak authoritarians in power, and a Prime Minister who “prefers Davos to Westminster,” are determined to impose a digital ID system on us all.
That is why, while all the noise of a “Britcard” has been going on, the infrastructure underpinning a digital ID system has been developing via One Login and the gov.uk digital app.
One Login is the system that has been used to impose on 8 million company directors the requirement to deliver their tax returns to HMRC. Currently, there is still the option to use an ACSP accountant to deliver your accounts without logging in to One Login. We are encouraging everyone to do this temporarily. However, we should never be in a situation where we have to digitally verify simply to participate and exist in society. This is what One Login is forcing.
Above One Login, the gov.uk digital app is pitched to hold all official documents digitally.
Where was all of this in any manifesto? Nowhere.
Just like facial recognition technology being used by police forces and councils up and down the country, we have had no national debate about this and no consent. It is simply being imposed upon us all.
From Convenience to Control
At Together, we believe this is unacceptable. We only need to reflect on some of the recent things that have happened in Britain to give us serious pause for concern:
Debanking — We saw with the scandalous debanking situation that those with particular political views, campaigners and politicians alike, were being targeted for bank account closures.
Data breaches — From Jaguar Land Rover to Heathrow closures and Marks & Spencer, we consistently see corporates with Big Tech relationships unable to protect data. The idea that this government can is preposterous. The Horizon Post Office scandal, medical blood transfusion scandals, and the fact that One Login is reportedly unsafe, as whistleblowers have suggested, along with the breach of data for Afghan service personnel, should make even the most ardent advocate concerned.
Concerns with policing and the judiciary — Over recent years, enormous concerns about ideologically driven “two-tier policing” and the judiciary, alongside imprisoning people for social media posts (while ignoring shoplifting and burglary), and the use of “non-crime hate incidents,” have raised serious questions. What will “anti-Muslim hate” laws mean for anyone asking questions or challenging government policy, for instance on border policy and migrant hotels? With a digital ID system where we all have to show who we are online, and then offline, this bodes very badly.
Age-gating — The push to follow Australia and force the entire nation to prove digitally who we are to sign on to social media is an assault on our liberty and freedom. All in the name, of course, of “protecting children.” The Online Safety Act was supposed to do that, yet it has become a censor’s charter to shut things down. For example, the debate Together held on the Assisted Suicide Bill was pulled from Google and YouTube. Why? Algorithm or direct intervention? Probably “well-intentioned” to shut down those promoting online suicide. But see the irony: we have campaigned against state killing via this bill and have been shut down for doing so.
Draw the Line
The bottom line is that we should never have to “prove” who we are simply to exist in our own land. We already have ample forms of identification, from driving licences to passports and National Insurance numbers.
This government has no solutions to deal with border security, an out-of-control civil service, the spiralling economy (which it has made far worse), and the many other issues we face across society. This is where its focus should be. But, alas, it is more inclined to create an all-encompassing, data-leaky, biometric surveillance-state digital ID system.
Well, those of us who do not like that idea are campaigning up and down the country. This culminates on Saturday 25 April at 2pm with our “Scrap Digital ID” Together 4 Nation Rally in Trafalgar Square, London; the Senedd in Cardiff; Belfast city centre; and Holyrood in Edinburgh.
If you don’t think we should be treated as potential criminals - walking QR codes - come along, get involved, and join us.
