The government has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards, after former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair said they could help control immigration.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially said the home secretary would "be looking at all sources of advice" on the issue.

However, he later told Times Radio ID cards were not part of the government's plans.

...

However, asked about the possibility of introducing digital ID cards, Mr Reynolds told Times Radio: "We can rule that out, that's not something that's part of our plans."

Opponents of identity cards have raised concerns about the potential impact on civil liberties and what they see as unnecessary data collection by the state.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.uk
    hexagon
    ·
    4 months ago

    Blair needs to stop sticking his oar in and give the new government time and space to crack on with fixing the mess left by the Tories. I'm sure ministers have better things to do than shoot down his bad ideas.

    • Spendrill@lemm.ee
      ·
      4 months ago

      Blair needs to stop sticking his oar in and give the new government time and space to crack on with fixing the mess left by the Tories. I’m sure ministers have better things to do than shoot down his bad ideas. be dragged off to prison for war crimes.

      Tomatyo, Tomahto.

      • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.uk
        hexagon
        ·
        4 months ago

        It's why I've never been allowed to meet him, despite him being a friend of the family. I might say I'd be diplomatic as I don't wish to upset any relatives but I know I may not be able to stick to that and so does my family.

        • Spendrill@lemm.ee
          ·
          4 months ago

          Yeah, on the other hand he's never going to face up to what he's done so you're right, he probably shouldn't have brought up the single most authoritarian policy New Labour ever proposed.

  • rubikcuber@feddit.uk
    ·
    4 months ago

    LOL. ID cards are literally one of the toxic New Labour policies that turned the electorate against them last time.

  • inspectorst@feddit.uk
    ·
    4 months ago

    He's pathological. He's spent 20+ years telling us ID cards are the solution to whatever the problem of the day happens to be - benefit fraud, terrorism, illegal immigration, whatever people happen to be talking about that week. Meanwhile, he's yet to give any convincing argument as to what we're all supposed to do when his ID card database - containing all our biometric information and all the government's data on us, centralised into one convenient place - inevitably gets hacked. Does he have a contract with an ID card company or something?

    • Random Dent@lemmy.ml
      ·
      4 months ago

      I don't think it'd even need a hacker. If previous performance is anything to go by, either an MP will leave it on a train or they'll just sell it to some corporation eventually.