Keir Starmer is set to embark on his 13th major U-turn as mandatory Digital IDs are set to be scrapped as part of the planned 2029 rollout, GB news understands.
Labour is weighing up options to row back on a key part of its Digital ID scheme amid intense public fallout over the headline policy.
Amid public backlash, ministers are understood to be considering making the planned digital ID Right to Work checks voluntary rather than compulsory in 2029, per PoliticsHome and The Times.
“It’s hard to find a backbench MP who will advocate for mandatory digital ID in public, or a minister who will defend it in private,” a Labour MP said.
“Making it non-mandatory would take a lot of the heat out of the debate and allow everyone to focus on the benefits of choosing to have a digital ID, which are significant.”
It would add to the daunting tally of screeching U-turns executed by Labour since coming to power in July 2024, including changing course on tax rises, slashing winter fuel payments, welfare reforms and holding a grooming gangs inquiry.
Addressing the apparent retreat, a Government spokesman told the People’s Channel: “We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks.”
“We have always been clear that details on the digital ID scheme will be set out following a full public consultation, which will launch shortly.
Keir Starmer is set to make a 13th major U-turn as mandatory Digital IDs are set to be scrapped
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“Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective, while also remaining inclusive,” they said.
A Whitehall source also told GB News the digital ID scheme may remain unchanged.
“Currently right to work checks are a mix of different systems, many of which are paper-based,” the source said, adding that this was “a weaker system” against international examples.
The insider said this “acts as a pull factor for people looking to come to the UK illegally for illegal working”.
Ministers are understood to be considering making the planned digital ID Right to Work checks voluntary rather than compulsory
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BIG BROTHER WATCH“We are still moving to a system of mandatory digital right-to-work checks, and consultation will look at the best technical way to do so. In practice, this could include a digital check of a passport or eVisa,” the source told The People’s Channel.
Reacting to the apparent decision, Nigel Farage hailed the Government’s apparent decision to drop mandatory elements from its digital ID scheme as a “victory for individual liberty”.
“Keir Starmer has abandoned plans for the Digital ID to be compulsory,” the Reform UK leader said.
“This is a victory for individual liberty against a ghastly, authoritarian government.
“Reform UK would scrap it altogether,” he promised.
The potential of yet another U-turn came just hours after Wes Streeting blasted Labour’s “excuses culture” and demanded an end to the Government’s retreat from key policy goals.
“This excuses culture does the centre-left no favours,” the Health Secretary said at an Institute for Government conference in central London.
He asked: “If we tell the public that we can’t make anything work, then why on Earth would they vote to keep us in charge?”
The revelation came just hours after Wes Streeting demanded an end to the Government’s retreat from key policy goals
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When asked if U-turns were slowing the Government down, Mr Streeting said: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
“We love to hear it, and if people think we’re getting it wrong – and we think that they’re right – far better to do the right thing rather than to spare one’s political blushes.”
He said: “In the NHS, we have an initiative called Girft – get it right first time. That should be our New Year’s resolution for 2026 – let’s try and get it right first time.”
“Where there aren’t levers, we build them; where there are barriers, we bulldoze them.
“If people in charge aren’t up to the job, we replace them with the best and the brightest,” the Health Secretary added.