The announcement will be made by Sir Keir Starmer during a speech on Friday, it is understood.
The so-called Brit-Card will be subject to consultation and thought to require legislation, as first reported by The i Paper.
The scheme will allow the verification of a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK.
It’s not Whitehall dictating what’s going to be done, it’s people with skin in the game. pic.twitter.com/CQc2Z3E6aL
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 25, 2025
What are Brit-Cards? A new digital ID system
The Brit-Card would mean anyone starting a new job or looking to rent a home would be required to show the card on a smartphone app.
It would then be checked against a central database of people entitled to live and work in the UK.
It is hoped this would reduce the attraction of working in the UK illegally, including for delivery companies.
The UK has only previously had mandatory ID cards during wartime.
The last tranche was scrapped in 1952.
Why does Sir Keir Starmer want to introduce digital IDs?
It’s understood that the digital IDs follow calls from French President Emmanuel Macron for the UK to reduce “pull factors” for migrants to come to the UK.
A total of 1,157 people have arrived on small boats in the last week, according to Home Office statistics.
Sir Keir is due to speak at the Global Progress Action Summit in London alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Earlier this month, the Prime Minister said an ID card system could play an “important part” in stopping illegal migration.
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He said things had “moved on” since the debate over ID cards during the last Labour government in the 2000s.
He had told the BBC: “We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago, and I think that, psychologically, it plays a different part.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also previously been positive about the policy.
