The so-called ‘Brit-Card’ - Keir Starmer’s plan for a mandatory digital ID - is drawing rare unity in Northern Ireland, where every major party has come out against it.
The digital ID would allow employers to confirm whether or not a potential employee is eligible to work in the UK.
So, why is it so contentious in Northern Ireland in particular?
Sky News journalist and broadcaster Adam Boulton said that while there are plenty of practical reasons for the ID card to exist, “it’s gotten off to a very problematic launch”.
“This has been presented as a clampdown on migrants,” he told The Anton Savage Show.
“That therefore raises the hackles of civil libertarians who say that we’re moving towards an economy where people will be having to have their papers demanded by the police and authorities on the street.
“The government says that won’t happen, but there’s also been a subsidiary issue, which, of course, is very pertinent to the North.”
Mr Boulton said the moniker of ‘Brit-card’ is problematic in Northern Ireland, as many citizens do not claim British identity.
Northern Ireland, Ulster, county Antrim, Belfast, Belfast, Shankill Road, street scene. Image: Rene Mattes / Alamy. 14 April 2010Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast John Finucane said the proposal “clearly has an impact on the Good Friday Agreement”.
“The idea that a British identity can be imposed on people in the North goes to the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, where Irish identity is protected and enshrined,” he said.
“I think even when we look at the statistics at the minute, I think that Irish passport applications outstrip applications for British passports.
“The Irish identity is strong, it’s thriving in the North.
“For a British government to casually announce this within the past couple of days, I think smacks – once again – of the North being an afterthought in the minds of Westminster.”
Protection of data
Mr Finucane said he’s still not sure exactly what problem the card is designed to solve.
“There’s been concerns, I think justifiably raised, around the information that would be stored, how that would be protected,” he said.
“I think people are rightly concerned in this day and age around the protection of their data, of their information.
“But I think for me, and certainly the reaction I’ve had from people over the past 48 hours since this was announced is quite clearly that they would not accept a British identity being imposed upon them.”
Main image: Keir Starmer, 2019.
