Responding to an OBR report revealing the cost of a digital ID system, Big Brother Watch’s director Silkie Carlo said:
“Starmer’s mandatory digital ID scheme comes at a massive cost to the public’s privacy, civil liberties and the public purse. This astronomical £1.8bn starting budget means that, far from being “free” as the government claims, digital ID will incur an unnecessary cost of about £50 to the each and every taxpayer. The Blair government wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on national IDs before the pointless plan was scrapped and it is astonishing that Starmer is following suit. It’s outrageous that the Labour government is on track to waste billions on an intrusive ID system no one wants, needs or indeed voted for, that is destined to fail, at a time when the country is facing a cost of living crisis.”