BURNHAM TO DROP DIGITAL ID SCHEME – Signalling intentions to focus resources on issues such as the cost of living
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, will scrap government plans for a digital ID scheme, signalling his intention to focus resources on kitchen table issues such as the cost of living, his allies said.
Lucy Powell, deputy leader of the Labour Party and a Burnham’s ally, said while the savings from scrapping the scheme might not be large, the move was “one small example of reprioritising.”
Dubbed the ‘King of the North’ for his work as the mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England, Burnham will replace Keir Starmer as prime minister today, Monday (July 20), when he says he will also unveil his cabinet team of top ministers.
Burnham’s office said one of the first things he would do was ditch a plan for all employees to hold a digital identity document, a scheme designed to tackle illegal migration but deemed to be a “fiasco” by a cross-party committee of MPs.Starmer dropped the requirement for the ID to be mandatory in January after criticism.
