Council say no to Digital ID
Telford & Wrekin Council has welcomed a Government change of heart on the introduction of mandatory digital identification.
The council has supported a motion that welcomed the dropping of a mandatory element over concerns that it would “undermine privacy, civil liberties, and public trust.”
A member of the public asked council leader Lee Carter at a meeting last week to note that some three million people had signed a national petition against the move.
Councillor Carter (Labour, Arleston & College) said he “fully understands and respects the feeling against the concept of mandatory digital ID”.
“However I must point out that it was just a concept out for consultation with very few details of what the scheme would actually entail.
“Since then government ministers have clarified that mandatory elements of the scheme have been dropped and other ID forms will be accepted.”
The full council meeting last Thursday (January 22) later passed an amended Conservative group motion which opposes the introduction of mandatory digital IDs across Telford and Wrekin.
Councillors also agreed to write to the Home Secretary and Minister for Digital Government, expressing the council’s opposition and welcoming the decision to scrap the mandatory aspects of the scheme.
The motion also requests that the MPs for Telford and The Wrekin “oppose any legislation introducing mandatory digital ID”.
The council welcomes an optional digital ID scheme which would be “like passports and driving licences, and has been implemented successfully in other countries such as France, Estonia and Finland”.
