A minister has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards after former Prime Minister Tony Blair called on the new government to use them to control immigration.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said it’s not part of the government’s plan, having said earlier on Sunday that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would look at “all sources of advice” on the issue.
Just a day after Labour won a landslide victory with little growth in their vote share, Sir Tony weighed in on the result, saying the government “need[s] a plan to control immigration” among other things.
“In office, I believed the best solution was a system of identity, so that we know precisely who has a right to be here.
“With, again, technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective,” the former Labour prime minister wrote.
In his first studio tour on Sunday as a government minister, Mr. Reynolds was questioned about Sir Tony’s call, to which he initially didn’t have a definitive answer.
“The new home secretary will be looking at all sources of advice when it comes to that,“ the new business secretary told Sky News’s ”Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips” programme.
“But I would just say we have backed the points-based immigration system, we made difficult decisions, particularly when we thought legal migration was too high and it has to come down.”
Pressed again on ID cards, he said: “Well look, my colleague Yvette Cooper and the rest of the home affairs team will be looking at all sorts of things.
“I’m not going to pre-empt things they may or may not want to do.”
He later ruled out the policy, telling Times Radio, “We can rule that out, that’s not something that’s part of our plans.”
Earlier on Sky News, Mr. Reynolds also rejected that Labour doesn’t have a plan on immigration control, referring to a number of reforms the party had pledged to reduce legal migration.
Speaking about his portfolio of business and trade, the minister said the UK can have closer ties with the E.U. in areas such as removing trade barriers to food and agricultural products where there are the same quality standards, recognising each other’s professional qualifications, and movement in the creative industries.
Elsewhere in his article, Sir Tony also called on the government to “avoid any vulnerability on ‘wokeism.’”
