On Tuesday March 24, East Sussex County Council voted in favour of a motion, which will see the authority “formally oppose” government plans to introduce some form of digital ID to the UK.
The motion had been tabled by Liberal Democrat councillor David Tutt, who said the government’s position had changed since he had first proposed the matter for debate in November.
Councillor Tutt said, “Back in November, [the government] were intending for the digital identification scheme to be mandatory. I am glad that — following pressure from many different quarters — they have rowed back from that. Now this is going to be a voluntary scheme.
“However, it will still I believe, disenfranchise many millions of people: people on lower incomes; the elderly; people without access to digital IT.
“That disenfranchisement will mean that they won’t have the same sort of access to entitlements and services that the government will — undoubtedly — make this a major channel for.”
He added, “It will also cost a considerable amount of money. The current budget estimate is that this will cost £1.8m at a time when UK PLC is close to being broke.
“Couldn’t they spend that money more effectively and for a better purpose? I believe that the answer to that is most definitely yes.”
While agreed on a majority vote, after gaining the support of Conservative and Lib Dem councillors, the motion attracted criticism from several councillors.
Labour’s Godfrey Daniel said it would be premature to oppose the plans at a time when they were still being shaped in response to public consultation.
Green Party councillor Wendy Maples said, “I would personally reject a digital ID scheme. Unfortunately, I also don’t think that this is a motion that is worth the paper it is written on.”
Councillor Tutt said the motion had been updated following the changes in government position and argued it was better to take a position during the consultation rather than afterwards.
Labour councillors and Reform councillor Aidan Fisher voted against the motion, while most of the council’s other political groups chose to abstain.
A full record of the vote is expected to be published on the council’s website in the near future.
The agreed motion calls on the authority to “formally oppose” the government’s plans to introduce digital ID, while also calling on Conservative council leader Keith Glazier to write to MPs and government to express this view.
It also called on the county council to “work with local voluntary, digital inclusion and civil liberties groups to ensure that no resident in East Sussex is penalised or excluded as a result of any national identification scheme.”
Image Credits: James Stewart .