Debate contribution: Digital ID Scheme: Opposition

Debate contribution by Mr Colm Gildernew on 11 November 2025.

MLA

Mr Colm Gildernew

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

11 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Digital ID Scheme: Opposition

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5349501

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Molaim an rún. I beg to move

A number of weeks ago, the British Government announced that they will bring forward a new form of mandatory digital ID that we all know as the "BritCard" The reaction to the BritCard has been, it is fair to say, universally negative, both here and, ironically enough, even in Britain, with all parties in the North in agreement that the BritCard should not apply here. Sinn Féin is resolutely opposed to the BritCard or any such mandatory ID scheme. The motion today will send a clear message to the British Government that the scheme is not wanted by the majority of people here and that they need to reflect on that hare-brained scheme.

First and foremost, it is an attack on the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement makes it explicitly clear that citizens in the North have the right — the right — to identify as Irish or British or, indeed, both, as they so choose. The idea that Irish nationalists living in the North, who carry Irish passports as a proud birthright, would accept a mandatory form of ID that forces them to identify as British is absolutely ludicrous. We all know that people here feel strongly in their sense of identity, as is their right, and any attempts to coerce people to accept an identity that is not theirs is doomed to fail from the outset. The Good Friday Agreement was designed in such a way to allow people to express their identity in whatever way they wanted, with a recognition that identity does not remain static and can change over time. Crucially, it also afforded equality to those of us who choose to identify as Irish. The so-called BritCard would drive a horse and cart through that inclusive and equal recognition of our many complex identities.

Very simply, we believe that if they decide to go ahead with it across the water, it should not take place here. We will not be supporting the amendment as we feel that it weakens our motion in that sense. Thank you for that. Workers here are already required to show various forms of ID when searching for employment, and we already have government ID, such as passports and driving licences, which most people are able to produce when asked. In the North, we also have electoral ID cards, which are available to any citizen who is registered to vote, completely free of charge. The BritCard is simply another layer of bureaucracy that duplicates what already exists, and it will only serve to confuse and disorient those who are seeking employment. I also have concerns about the digital aspect of the ID. As we all know, many people in the North are not IT literate and have no means of accessing internet platforms. Are we seriously suggesting that people who may not know how to use a mobile phone, or, worse again, people who cannot even afford a mobile phone should be excluded from gaining employment? There is also a lack of clarity on what it would mean for the thousands of cross-border workers who live and work here, particularly along border regions. The constituency that I represent includes one of those regions. Many people cross the border for work daily. The question is this: will Irish citizens who live in the South but work in the North — many of them valued workers in our health service and many other places — be required to carry a BritCard? That is another gaping hole in what is a daft idea.

I have not heard it referred to as anything other than "BritCard". I did not hear the Matter of the Day, due to other business, but that is the only term that I have heard used, and I think that it is widely used. It is widely in circulation, even yet; it is not simply me who is using it. The scheme has the real potential to block thousands of workers from contributing to our economy by placing unnecessary barriers in front of people who are trying to make a living. The more that we look at the scheme, the more that it becomes obvious that we in the North were not factored into the decision whatsoever. Frankly, that is nothing new, and that is a problem in itself. The British economy is in free fall, largely as a result of Brexit, it must be said, and there are unprecedented labour shortages across all sections of the economy. It smacks of political desperation to make such a proposal. At a time of continuing British austerity, when we have seen pensioners lose their winter fuel payment, sick and disabled people lose their benefits and now more unfair taxes being proposed against the least well-off, the British Government are proposing to spend £400 million on this folly. It beggars belief. The proposal shows how out of touch with reality the British Government are. Trust in the British Government is at an all-time low. Keir Starmer is the most unpopular British Prime Minister in living memory, and now he wants to force citizens to hand over their personal data to his Government: a recipe for disaster. Anyone and everyone that I have spoken to about this scheme has said that they do not trust the British Government to responsibly handle their personal data, and, to be clear, neither do I. We live in an age when hackers can access vast quantities of personal data and use it for criminal purposes, and Governments around the world seem to be completely inept at protecting their citizens' data. That is why I believe that the digital ID scheme will never be accepted by people here. Keir Starmer can dance to the Reform tune as much as he wants, but people here refuse to get caught up in these Westminster games and distractions. We have had enough of the bad decisions that come from Westminster, which have had a disproportionate impact on the people who live here. It is time that the British Government took their heads out of the clouds and started listening to the people on the ground.

1,031 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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