Editing Openai/68d939c2-bda4-800e-9458-75c5a750aa3c (section)

=== Who is saying what right now ===

Government (Labour)
* Framing: a pragmatic tool to deter illegal working, streamline checks, and modernise service access; delivered via a phone-based wallet. GOV.UK<ref>{{cite web|title=GOV.UK|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-digital-id-scheme-to-be-rolled-out-across-uk|publisher=gov.uk|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>

Civil liberties groups (e.g., Big Brother Watch)
* Framing: a step towards a “checkpoint society,” with risks of mission-creep, exclusion, and surveillance; urging the PM to drop “mandatory” elements. Strong rhetoric is accurate as opinion but sometimes treated online as if present-tense reality. Big Brother Watch<ref>{{cite web|title=Big Brother Watch|url=https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-coverage/did/big-brother-watch-response-to-news-that-the-prime-minister-will-announce-a-mandatory-digital-id-scheme/|publisher=Big Brother Watch|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>

Mainstream media
* Broad coverage that often uses “ID cards” shorthand (some pieces highlight cyber and privacy risks; others emphasise border/security aims). The shorthand contributes to the “card vs digital” confusion. Reuters<ref>{{cite web|title=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-introduce-mandatory-digital-id-cards-2025-09-26/|publisher=reuters.com|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>

Opposition parties (selected current lines)
* Reform UK: “Control and penalise the rest of us”; claims it won’t stop illegal working. Language emphasises state overreach and ineffectiveness. PublicTechnology<ref>{{cite web|title=PublicTechnology|url=https://www.publictechnology.net/2025/09/26/government-and-politics/parties-across-the-spectrum-united-in-opposing-starmers-digital-id-plan/|publisher=publictechnology.net|date=2025-09-26|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>
* Conservatives: Publicly oppose as a “gimmick” that won’t “stop the boats,” while some figures call for a debate on identity policy—creating mixed signals that feed uncertainty about alternatives. The Guardian<ref>{{cite web|title=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/sep/26/keir-starmer-digital-id-cards-immigration-borders-reform-uk-politics-live|publisher=The Guardian|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>
* Liberal Democrats: Reject a mandatory scheme on civil-liberties and digital-exclusion grounds (older, disabled, low-income users). Posts risk being re-shared alongside exaggerated “universal pass” memes. Liberal Democrat Voice<ref>{{cite web|title=Liberal Democrat Voice|url=https://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-dems-on-starmers-digital-id-nope-78393.html|publisher=Liberal Democrat Voice|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>
* Greens: Portray the plan as authoritarian and “out of touch,” reinforcing surveillance narratives. PublicTechnology<ref>{{cite web|title=PublicTechnology|url=https://www.publictechnology.net/2025/09/26/government-and-politics/parties-across-the-spectrum-united-in-opposing-starmers-digital-id-plan/|publisher=publictechnology.net|date=2025-09-26|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>
* NI parties (e.g., Sinn Féin): Raise Good Friday Agreement / rights concerns, which some social posts then escalate into claims of cross-border legal impossibilities. Reuters<ref>{{cite web|title=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-introduce-mandatory-digital-id-cards-2025-09-26/|publisher=reuters.com|access-date=2025-11-12}}</ref>