Hello! A special welcome to those new to NO2ID, and to the Government’s continuing plans for ID cards. This is the first of what we expect to be our ‘monthly’ Bulletin – though the frequency may vary according to circumstances, and what the Government tries doing.  

What do we know so far?

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Taking inspiration from Sam Trendall’s excellent summary in Civil Service World, and before it starts actually writing things down in the consultation, we thought we’d take a look at what the Government has said about its digital ID scheme.

(If you want the ‘deep dive’, here’s a Google Doc copy of the article with added comments; if you prefer not to use Google, there’s a copy in Word format here.)

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Many of you have already joined our two mailing lists.

The NO2ID Bulletin – will get periodic updates in which we’ll give a summary of where things are, and (whenever possible) what’s likely to be coming next. We intend the Bulletin to be something you can read to stay informed, and forward to others to help keep them informed too. You can join that list in the column on the right of our website. We’ll use the list sparingly, probably sending a Bulletin every month or three – although we may send more frequent updates at busier times. Bulletins will also get posted to this website.

NO2ID also has a free Substack which gets updated whenever we publish anything here. The Substack will potentially get multiple updates a week (or day!) at busier times, if you want to be kept bang up to date by email. Our Substack subscribers got notified when we posted about digital ID supposedly “not being mandatory”. Our public posts will always be free but there’s an option to donate via Substack when you subscribe, for those who wish to do so.

We also accept donations directly via our website, including one-off and monthly donations via PayPal.

We would very much like to do a 2026 version of the much-loved (and still worn!) NO2ID metal pin badges from the 2004-2011 campaign. To get things started, we’ll send the first five people who donate more than £40 a batch of five badges (when they are ready – your donations will help us do the first manufacturing run, which takes a month). [We will delete this paragraph from our website when the offer expires]

We eagerly await the questions they won’t ask: https://www.no2id.uk/2025/upcoming-consultation/

How is ID not “mandatory” if they create you an account anyway?

In an attempt to ‘change the public mood’ before the Government begins consulting on its new ID scheme, “government sources” have briefed journalists that digital ID “will no longer be mandatory” for British citizens to prove their right to work in the UK.

All the Home Office Right to Work checks remain, as do Right to Rent and other mandatory checks – and while government has yet to write down the details of its new ‘digital ID card’, it is rolling ahead with digital versions of your passport and driving license, and an ever-expanding requirement to register for and (only) use One Login when accessing services.

Given how slavishly it mirrors the thinking of the Blair government-in-exile, the 2026 process is following a well-trodden path. In 2002, ID cards were first proposed as mandatory “entitlement cards” for access to services. Over the next four years, this evolved into the Blair Government’s supposedly “voluntary” ID card and National Identity Register, which you couldn’t avoid if you wanted a passport. 

The ‘card’ this time may be a digital credential that sits on your phone, which you won’t be able to avoid if you want to use any government service once Government has “reimagined” the relationship between the citizen and the state.  

While the headlines talk of a U-turn, the ID scheme that is already being rolled out includes “shadow” accounts which are created for everyone who doesn’t do their own identity verification for a One Login account. They are already doing this to company directors, they’re considering doing it for babies at birth and potentially for all children in school.

Number 10 may be trying to “scrape the barnacles off the boat”, and may even drop some of the most stupid bits that their favourite think tank got them to announce without thinking through implementation. Ministers announce things with a flourish; regrets and U-turns may follow. But don’t be fooled. The ID scheme isn’t dead yet, and government still hasn’t answered really basic questions about it – like whether they’ll force married women to change their names. If it’s one account per person in their database, all linked together, what will that name on that account be?

Ministers and officials can say different things about intent, but the underlying principle remains the same. The unchanged aspects of the ID programme continue to rewrite the relationship between citizen and state on Labour’s terms, replacing the UK’s proudly permissive culture – where one is free to act unless explicitly forbidden by law – with a ‘Papers Please’ regime of constant verification and oversight.

And unless cast iron guarantees are written on the face of primary legislation, Blair and his acolytes will keep coming back for more…