Debate contribution: Digital ID Scheme: Opposition
Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on .
- MLA
- Mr Phillip Brett
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 11 November 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Digital ID Scheme: Opposition
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5349580
Read the official Assembly record
Text
To follow on from the contributor who just spoke, I was born a British citizen, I am a British citizen and I always will be a British citizen. That is why I support the amendment tabled in my name and the names of my colleagues. I do so not just with my voice but with the voices of over 5,000 of my constituents in North Belfast: 5,000 people who are unionist, nationalist or have no constitutional view. They also do not have a voice in our national Parliament to make their view clear. Although my Member of Parliament would rather spend his time earning money from legal aid than representing those whom he was elected to serve, I will stand here today and speak on behalf of the 5,000 people of North Belfast who have signed that petition. They, like me, see the policy for what it is: a dead cat policy. The most unpopular Prime Minister in the history of the United Kingdom claims that a digital ID card will stop illegal immigration. That is because he has failed in the first duty of any Government, which is to protect the borders of the country that he serves. Is he seriously telling the people of the United Kingdom that those who enter the country via small boats will be put off because they do not have a digital ID card or that those who enter Northern Ireland through the international border with the Irish Republic, where there are no checks, and are then able to reside in the United Kingdom illegally will stop doing so because Keir Starmer has introduced a digital ID card? That is for the clouds. We are told that we should trust Keir Starmer. Look at what he promised the people of the United Kingdom and what he has delivered. He promised working people that he would never increase their taxes, but, at the end of this month, the Chancellor will increase taxes on hard-working families. The Labour Party pledged that they would never increase the tax burden on businesses, but they have already increased the rate of National Insurance contributions. They promised pensioners across this United Kingdom that they would protect the winter fuel payment, but their first act was to grab that from pensioners across the UK. They told us that they would protect our veterans, but one of their first acts was to placate nationalism and not move forward with the protection of veterans in Northern Ireland. They told us that they would protect innocent victims in Northern Ireland, but, yesterday, the Defence Minister was unable to say that an IRA terrorist could not serve on a panel that would decide who would and would not be entitled to immunity. Forgive me and the Members on these Benches if we do not trust the words of Keir Starmer. In our amendment, we recognise — not just as a unionist party — that those from all backgrounds in Northern Ireland who work in other parts of the United Kingdom and travel daily and/or weekly to other parts of the United Kingdom would be impacted by this. That is why we call for the full removal of the scheme. I thank the SDLP, the Alliance Party, the Ulster Unionists and the Members yet to speak who support our amendment. The proposer of the motion says that this has always been called "a digital BritCard" and he has never heard it called anything else. I encourage him to read the motion that purports to be in his name, because the word "BritCard" is not included in it. Perhaps he did not read what he was asked to sign by Connolly House before coming here. The Democratic Unionist Party will always be proud of its unionist credentials. However, we propose the amendment not just in that spirit but as people who will continue to stand up for liberty and freedom. We look forward to the settled will of the Assembly being that a UK-wide, mandatory digital ID scheme needs to go straight into the bin.
679 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.42 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.71).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.52).
- Subject area: Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty.
- The overall probability was moderate at most and none of the culture-war criteria was close to being met.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.28 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.17 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.40 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.32 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.71 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.42 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.45 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.02 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.52 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.68 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.26 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.03 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.