Thousands protest plans for mandatory digital ID cards in the UK

Parts of central London came to a standstill as thousands of people protested against plans for everyone in the UK to have a digital ID card.

The Prime Minister said it could help cut illegral migration, and make it easier to access services without having to hunt for utility bills.

But opponents told Metro it could turn us into a ‘checkpoint society’, warning the ‘dystopian’ plan should be scrapped.

During the protest today, demonstrators chanted and waved placards – and even an effigy of Sir Keir Starmer – as they marched from Marble Arch to Whitehall.

An advert for the protest on the website of organiser Mass Non-Compliance said ‘if you accept digital ID now, it may be the last real choice you ever make’.

They claimed that ‘it is marketed as safety but built for control’, and provided images for protesters including slogans such as ‘Britain doesn’t do “Papers, Please”.’

Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, who was expelled from the party in 2023 for comparing Covid-19 vaccines to the Holocaust, walked at the front of the march.

The Metropolitan Police told demonstrators not to deviate from their pre-planned route, and to stay on the left-hand side of the road.

It comes after the Prime Minister announced in September that a digital ID system would be introduced by 2029 and would be mandatory for people working in the UK as part of a bid to tackle illegal migration.

The digital ID card, viewed on a phone, would have to be provided to employers before people could be hired.

Versions of digital IDs already exist, with one launched yesterday for veterans.

But plans to make them mandatory have already faced criticism, with some say they are a gateway to a centralised system where people can be locked out of society for behaviour perceived as undesirable, such as failure to pay a debt.

Others have raised concerns about the security implications, saying the data would be a trove for hackers, who have already sowed so much chaos in 2025 so far.

Conservative former minister Sir David Davis, who campaigned against their introduction during Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government, said: ‘While digital IDs and ID cards sound like modern and efficient solutions to problems like illegal immigration, such claims are misleading at best.

‘The systems involved are profoundly dangerous to the privacy and fundamental freedoms of the British people.’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has dismissed the plans as a ‘gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats’, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also said he is ‘firmly opposed’.

The Liberal Democrats have said they would not support mandatory digital ID where people are ‘forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives’.

An official government petition against the plans has now reached over 2.8 million signatures.

However, similar systems have already been adopted elsewhere, with the EU rolling out a ‘digitial identity wallet’ for all citizens in the bloc by 2026.

Downing Street pointed to Australia, Denmark, Estonia and India when announcing the plan, saying that in the latter country, ‘the government has saved around US $10 billion annually by reducing fraud and leakages in welfare schemes’.

They said in a response to the petition: ‘For clarity, it will not be a criminal offence to not hold a digital ID and police will not be able to demand to see a digital ID as part of a “stop and search.’

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