UK Blair-Hague's call for digital IDs are a 'tech revolution' failure

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Mar 2023 16:00

Blair and Hague state that "everything from vaccine status to airplane tickets and banking details are available on our personal devices", as they claim that it's ‘illogical’ for a citizen’s public records to not be available on those devices.

Former UK PM Tony Blair at the World Economic Forum. (AP)

A ‘technological revolution’ was urged for in February by former PM Tony Blair and ex-Tory leader William Hague, whereby every British citizen would receive digital ID cards now published in the report "A New National Purpose: Innovation Can Power the Future of Britain", by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. As Hague stated on Radio 4’s Today Programme back then, the UK must ‘redesign the state around technology’.

Blair and Hague state that "everything from vaccine status to airplane tickets and banking details are available on our personal devices", as they claim that it's ‘illogical’ for a citizen’s public records to not be available on those devices.

A single digital-ID system for all UK citizens and residents would prove ‘not only who they are, but also their right to live and work in the UK, their age and ownership of a driving license [and] credentials issued by other authorities, such as educational or vocational qualifications’.

After one failed attempt to launch digital IDs while in office, Blair gave the campaign a makeover in September 2020 as a fight against the Coronavirus.

Blair and Hague's article in The Times states how technology can ‘transcend partisan politics’, calling a 'cheaper, easier and more secure’ way to access benefits, arguing that this new technological breakthrough will help the government divert to ‘a more proactive model [of public-service provision], meeting people’s needs before they apply for a service, tailoring the services and support they are offered to their individual circumstances, and reducing administrative burdens on both individuals and the public sector’.

The UK public remains suspicious about the ID cards solution. Five Labor home secretaries failed to persuade and people's enthusiasm is diminishing. The public is also worried about internet outages and cyber hacks which pose an invasion of privacy.