Science, Innovation and Technology – in the House of Commons at on 17 December 2025.
Alison Griffiths
Conservative, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton
What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on introducing a nationwide digital ID system.
Harriet Cross
Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons)
What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on the potential impact of a nationwide digital ID system on levels of digital exclusion.
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Cabinet Office Ministers are working closely to deliver the new digital ID scheme. The scheme will be inclusive, secure and effective. It will give the public more control over their data than they have now, and it will make public services easier to access. A major inclusion programme, backed by £11.7 million, will support those at risk of digital exclusion, ensuring that the system is accessible and secure for all as we modernise our public services.
Alison Griffiths
Conservative, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton
A very happy Christmas to you, Mr Speaker. More than 5,300 of my constituents have signed a petition opposing digital ID, alongside nearly 3 million people nationally. In my own local survey, two thirds opposed it outright. Digital ID did not appear anywhere in Labour’s manifesto. The Government have no mandate for it and no consent from the public, so when will the Minister explain to the House on what democratic basis the Government believe they are entitled to enact their nationwide digital ID plan?
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Modernising government was at the heart of our manifesto, and the Government are proposing this national digital ID scheme to modernise our public services, improve security and streamline right-to-work checks. Since we introduced the digital veterans card, it has been downloaded 11,000 times, and 260,000 people have already downloaded the gov.uk app and 13.2 million people have started to use One Login as part of the gov.uk service. In the new year, a public consultation will be launched, alongside wider engagement, which has already begun, with expert organisations and wider stakeholders. A major digital inclusion programme will also be rolled out alongside that.
Harriet Cross
Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons)
The parliamentary petition against digital ID has been signed by more than 3 million people, including many in my Gordon and Buchan Constituency. It is the fourth most signed petition in history. Why does the Minister think digital ID is so unpopular?
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is up to the Petitions Committee to schedule those debates, and I am sure the Committee will schedule that debate in Westminster Hall in due course. I can only reiterate that the Government are proposing this national ID scheme to modernise public services, improve security, streamline right-to-work checks and give the public control over their data. I am not quite so sure why the hon. Lady objects to the government modernising. We have analogue government with a digital population, and we live in a new world where the economy is modernising and digitising all the time, and government has to catch up.
Lindsay Hoyle
Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, House of Commons Commission, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Restoration and Renewal Client Board Committee, Chair, Restoration and Renewal Client Board Committee, Chair, Speaker's Conference (2024) Committee, Chair, Speaker's Conference (2024) Committee
I didn’t realise you had changed your name to Gareth Snell, Mr Jopp. I know you are due to be called, but I have to take two questions from each side to get the political balance.
Gareth Snell
Labour/Co-operative, Stoke-on-Trent Central
When the Minister rolls out digital ID, will he give serious thought to engaging organisations like conformity assessment bodies and the public libraries network so that those who need the ID can get help at the point of application?
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
One of the aspects of digital ID that is under-debated in this House is the fact that those who are furthest away geographically and economically from digital inclusion will benefit the most from it. That is why we are investing millions of pounds into the digital inclusion programme, which has just announced 80 projects, including many in my hon. Friend’s Constituency. We have to make sure that the entirety of the public, wherever they are in the country and whichever economic situation they are in, benefit from digital government and better public services.
Christopher Vince
Labour/Co-operative, Harlow
Digital IDs have the potential to make life much easier for my constituents in Harlow. However, I have constituents who are concerned about data security. What reassurance can the Minister give them that their data will be safe with this new system?
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The data will be safe. It will be a fragmented system, and it will have the highest possible data security standards attached.
Lincoln Jopp
Conservative, Spelthorne
Last night in the Strangers Bar, I bumped into a very influential Labour Back Bencher who told me with great authority that digital ID simply is not going to happen. That is good news, of course, because it is going to 1.8 billion quid we have not got, and it is deeply unpopular in the country. Why does the Secretary of State not give us all an early Christmas present and simply announce that she is ditching the policy today?
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I can merely give the Christmas advice to the hon. Gentleman not to drink in Strangers Bar and listen to people who are in there.
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