Majority of Britons fear being tracked by Labour's hated digital ID 'surveillance state'

Britons fear being tracked by the Government if digital ID were to be implemented, a new survey has revealed.

More than six in 10 Britons are concerned about surveillance from digital ID - including monitoring of where and when the digital card was used.

Ministers had planned to introduce mandatory digital IDs that would be required as proof of the right to work, but faced fierce opposition and eventually U-turned.

New polling from Deltapoll interviewed 2,091 British adults on behalf of advocacy group Liberty - and laid bare Britons' concerns.

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It revealed that 74 per cent of Britons are worried about the risk of cyber attacks if digital ID plans are followed through.

Liberty, a civil liberties group founded in 1934, is now urging Andy Burnham to scrap plans for the scheme, as well as facial recognition technology, when he becomes Prime Minister.

It joins groups like the Together Declaration, headed by Alan Miller, in opposition to the plans.

Mr Miller told GB News there was "unanimity" across the British political divide in defiance of digital ID.

He said: "The idea that we have a biometric surveillance state constantly censoring, constantly surveying and monitoring the public, the British public do not want this, so it's fantastic to see."

In Mr Burnham's Reddit "ask me anything" two weeks ago, he did not answer any questions on internet-related topics such as the Online Safety Act (OSA) and digital ID, despite the subjects being more popular than the questions he did end up answering.

But in September last year, Mr Burnham said he opposed plans for digital ID, saying "not now" when asked if he was in favour of rolling it out.

Explaining his opposition to the schemes, he said it was because the previous Labour Government - of which he was a part - failed to pass a similar scheme.

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"I think there’s a risk of an opportunity cost situation here, where something can consume a huge amount of time and actually doesn’t come through," he said.

A committee of MPs said earlier this year the public was spooked by the Government's "poorly thought out and badly explained plans".

Chairwoman Dame Karen Bradley said the Government's rollout of the plans was "nothing short of a fiasco" and undermined a policy which, she claimed, was "generally well received by the public".

Sir Keir Starmer, announcing the plans at last year's Labour conference, said: "Let me spell it out: you will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID."

Labour went on to U-turn and drop the mandatory requirement, but ministers are still pushing for it to be required for digital right-to-work checks.

Liberty director Akiko Hart said: "The British public are right to be concerned about their privacy – it is time for the Government to listen and have an honest conversation with the public about the risks of its surveillance schemes.

"The new Prime Minister has a unique opportunity to hit reset and win back the public’s trust.

"It is time for the Government to prioritise protecting our right to privacy instead of expanding surveillance and state power without meaningful safeguards or accountability in place."

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