UK PM appointing MP Josh Simons lead for national digital ID: report

UK PM Kier Starmer has selected a champion for his proposed but yet-undetailed mandatory digital identity system. Josh Simons, first-term Labour MP for Makerfield, will be named minister for digital reform, the Financial Times reports.

Simons is currently an acting parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office. He pushed back on “lies” circulated in the public dialogue around digital ID at a Petitions Committee hearing in December. At the time, Simons insisted that the government is not planning to create a new, centralized database to store people’s information, but also that the government is not planning to outsource the technology or “leaving it to private companies.”

Simons experience prior to becoming an MP in 2024 includes time as director of think tank Labour Together, which kicked off the poor messaging from the party by invoking the defeated Blair-era “Britcard” in a proposal for mandatory UK national digital ID last June.

He is also co-chair and co-founder of the Labour Growth Group, which advocates within the party for business interests and limited regulation.

An unnamed source told FT that the move represents a victory for those among the Labour government who want digital ID to be used for a wide range of public services, on a voluntary basis. Those services would likely include access to tax-free childcare and benefits payments. Other potential applications in discussion also include age checks for alcohol purchases and automated reminders for bin collections.

A public consultation on the shape the UK’s digital ID should take is set to begin soon.

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Article Topics

BritCard  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  GOV.UK Wallet  |  UK digital ID