Slough Lib Dems support Sir Ed Davey's call to say NO to Labour's compulsory digital ID cards
Lib Dem Leader, Sir Ed Davey, writes: "This week, Keir Starmer has unveiled plans for a mandatory digital ID system.
The Liberal Democrats cannot and will not support a system where people are forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives, where ordinary parts of life are turned into "papers please" moments, policed by a centralised state database."
Slough Lib Dems support Sir Ed's campaign against compulsory ID cards (photo show some of the Slough Lib Dems who attended the 2024 AGM, with guest speaker, Joshua Reynolds, Lib Dem MP for Maidenhead).
Sir Ed asks citizens to support his camapign: "Please add your name to our petition calling on the Government to cancel its plans for mandatory Digital ID, and share it with your friends and family: No to Digital ID Cards - Liberal Democrats
Cllr Sabia Akram, Leader of Slough Lib Dem Group of Councillors, announced she had signed the Lib Dem petition, and said: “digital ID cards will do absolutely nothing to deter illegal immigration or the cash economy”.
Sabia, see below with some other Slough Lib Dems meeting Sir Ed Davey, continued by explaining that what ID cards would do, “is cost the public purse millions and achieve the long set ambition of Sir Tony Blair for data collection and mass surveillance.”
Matthew Taylor, former Chair of Slough Lib Dems, with experience of living in Australia, said: “Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 how ID cards will solve issues with ”undocumented" migrants? Landlords and employers already have a duty to check ID - so those who are employing undocumented people know exactly what they are doing.
People who are undocumented will remain undocumented.
I'm not against the idea of ID cards in an abstract sense - but not when they are introduced as a solution to a problem where it is clear they will make no difference.
Australia has a national digital ID system (for anyone, not just citizens), which is an extension of the digital driving license. It is entirely voluntary though and will remain that way."
Sir Ed also said: "A mandatory digital ID also risks entrenching discrimination. People shouldn’t be turned into criminals just because they can’t have a digital ID, or choose not to. This will be especially worrying to millions of older people, people living in poverty and disabled people - who are more likely to be digitally excluded.
The scheme is set to cost the taxpayer billions, all while creating chaos and confusion. Time and again we’ve seen government technology projects spiral out of control, with huge budgets and little to show for it.
Just imagine if this level of urgency and investment were instead going into cutting GP waiting times, fixing social care, or tackling the housing crisis. These are the issues that urgently need attention.
Instead, the Labour Party is reviving its decades-long obsession with ID cards, regardless of the cost to the taxpayer, the risks to civil liberties, or the people it leaves behind.
The Liberal Democrats believe in a free, inclusive society where your rights aren’t conditional. This is state overreach, plain and simple and we’ll fight these plans every step of the way.