Andy Burnham To Scrap Digital ID Scheme

Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham will officially ditch plans for a national digital ID system upon entering Downing Street on Monday.

The decision marks a clean break from policies that were established under Keir Starmer, as Burnham’s team works to distance the new administration from unpopular initiatives and reallocate state resources toward everyday public priorities.

Burnham, who earned the nickname 'King of the North' during his tenure as the mayor of Greater Manchester, will take office after meeting King Charles III on Monday. His office confirmed that abandoning the controversial ID program will be among his very first acts as prime minister.

"One of the first things this government will do is put its focus where people need it right now: creating breathing space and delivering change they can feel in their everyday lives," a spokesperson for Burnham stated.

"That means all the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it's most needed, such as helping with the cost of living," the spokesperson added, emphasizing a commitment to "improving everyday life and strengthening local economies over expensive national government schemes."

The digital ID concept, which was initially pitched by Starmer ahead of last year's Labour conference, was designed as a compulsory "Brit card" for workers. The previous administration argued that the credentials would make it harder for undocumented migrants to work illegally while streamlining access to public services.

However, the proposal immediately triggered fierce backlash from privacy advocates and political opponents concerned over state overreach and data security. Conservative MP David Davis previously warned:

"No system is immune to failure, and we have seen time and again governments and tech giants fail to protect people's personal data. If world-leading companies cannot protect our data, I have little faith that Whitehall would be able to do better."

Additionally, Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group cautioned that Labour risked "creating a digital surveillance infrastructure that will change everyone's daily lives and establish a pre-crime state where we constantly have to prove who we are."

After a parliamentary petition against the IDs amassed nearly 3 million signatures, Starmer's team watered down the mandate in January, converting it into a voluntary "one stop" app. Even then, Home Affairs Committee Chair Dame Karen Bradley labeled the rollout a "fiasco" that "raised fears of government over-reach into people's lives".

While exact savings from abandoning the plan remain unclear, Deputy Labour Leader Lucy Powell noted that redirecting both financial capital and administrative energy was vital.

"It's not just about the money - it's actually about the attention and the focus, so that the whole of government machinery can work in service of the agenda and the vision that the Labour government is setting out under Andy Burnham," Powell told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

The policy reversal has drawn reactions from across the political spectrum. Shadow Technology Secretary Julia Lopez accused the incoming prime minister of political posturing:

"After pressure from the Conservatives, mandatory ID was already apparently off the table. Andy Burnham now needs to explain whether that was untrue, or whether he is simply claiming credit for a decision that had already been taken," she argued, claiming Labour had already "wasted millions of pounds on this project."

On the other hand, Liberal Democrat MP Lisa Smart welcomed the cancellation:

"People will be hugely relieved to know they are no longer set to be forced to hand over their data just to go about their daily lives," she stated, calling the scheme an "obscene" waste of taxpayer money. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch took aim at Burnham's overall direction, calling his leadership plans "airy fairy" and arguing the nation needs a leader prepared to "take tough decisions."

Despite dropping the ID cards, Burnham's team stressed he remains committed to strict right-to-work enforcement, with plans to expand identity checks into gig-economy delivery and courier roles.