Digital ID – Croydon Constitutionalists

Episode 104 – Politics in Pubs: Digital ID: Panacea or Dystopia?

At the Politics in Pubs Central London event we were joined by Viggo Terling of the Adam Smith Institute, and Darwin Friend of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, for a discussion about Digital ID and whether it will prove to be a panacea or a dystopia, and what if anything we can do about it.

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Visit Politics in Pubs at https://politicsinpubs.org.uk/ for more on their events in London and beyond. We also have a brief write up of this event below.

Mixed Panacea and Dystopia: Digital ID – Politics in Pubs in London

The discussion centred on whether a UK digital ID system would be a productivity-boosting modernisation or a costly, trust-eroding government overreach. The timing of the event allowed it to be framed against the day’s news of the proposed under-16 social media ban (requiring age verification) and broader concerns about data, trust, and liberty.

Viggo Terling was broadly supportive of well-designed digital ID, strongly prefers private-sector model. He strongly criticised the government’s nanny-state tendencies (e.g., the under-16 ban) but sees huge potential in digital verification. Viggo advocated the Swedish BankID model, created and funded by banks (not taxpayers), voluntary but near-universally adopted (~99% of adults), used for signing mortgages, loans, government services, etc., via facial scan on a phone or card.

Darwin Friend was sceptical, especially of government-led schemes. He opposes mandatory or government-run digital ID due to broken public trust, history of failed projects, and cost overruns. Darwin noted past ID card scheme under Blair wasted £4.6 billion before being scrapped. Darwin also identified the under-16 social media ban + age verification as a “slippery slope”/precursor to broader digital ID and data consolidation.

Both strongly agreed private-sector, voluntary systems are preferable and that data privacy, cybersecurity, and operational security are real issues.

Darwin’s advice for opponents: Arm yourself with facts (e.g., Big Brother Watch), resist publicly, support parties opposing it, and keep making the case. Viggo advised people to be proactive, lobby to improve the design rather than just oppose. Focus on benefits (productivity, convenience) alongside risks.

We have a civil, thoughtful debate between two broadly libertarian-leaning speakers. Both highlighted that how digital ID is implemented (government vs private, mandatory vs voluntary) matters far more than whether it exists in principle. The event ended with audience Q&A after a break.

Digital ID: Panacea or Dystopia?

Digital ID is back on the agenda. It was announced as a bill in the King Speech, and many believe it is coming in via the back door with social media and internet age restrictions.

Join our panel of Viggo Terling of the Adam Smith Institute, and Darwin Friend of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, for a discussion on if Digital ID will prove a panacea or a dystopia, and what if anything we can do about it.

Politics in Pubs, London

The Warwick. 25 Warwick Way, London SW1V 1QT

15^th June 2026, 7pm

Expect strong views, straight talk, and practical ideas. The evening kicks off with a lively panel discussion, followed by your chance to fire questions at the experts.

Grab a pint, sharpen your arguments, and stay informed on this key issue of government oversight in the digital world.

Free entry – arrive early for a good spot!
See you at the pub—because real change starts over a drink and a debate.

SDP CONDEMNS PLANS FOR DIGITAL ID SYSTEM

The budget again confirmed the Labour Governments plan to introduce a Digital ID system, at a staggering provisionally forecast cost of £1.8billion. Below is the SDP Press Release from September which sums up many of the condemnations of these plans.

“Existing “right to work” checks are more than sufficient to stop the employment of illegal aliens. The government should instead crackdown on black market and gig economy firms”

William Clouston, SDP Leader:

“The SDP is the party of the patriotic state. We accept that sometimes individual liberties must be balanced against collective goods. But what collective good does digital ID solve? It does not solve the challenge of illegal migration – which is a problem only due to weak elites that refuse to use the tools they already have.

“Instead, I believe this new digital ID scheme is a desperate move by a teetering government to keep key backers of the Starmer government on-side. Big tech firms, and the sinister interest groups that have benefitted from their largesse, are turning the screws to force an expensive, insecure, and pointless digital ID system on the public while the political opportunity still remains. It must be rejected.”

London (26 September 2025) – The Social Democratic Party (SDP), Britain’s party of the patriotic state, opposes the government’s planned digital ID system – on four main grounds.

First, the SDP rejects the claim that such a system is necessary to reduce illegal migration. Existing “right to work” checks are more than sufficient to stop the employment of illegal aliens. The government should instead crackdown on black market and gig economy firms that fail to enforce existing right to work checks. Such a crackdown, paired with the detention and deportation of all illegal arrivals into Britain, would end the crisis of illegal migration.

Secondly, rather than being in the interests of the British people, the planned digital ID system exists to further the interests of multinational technology firms. The main domestic champion of digital ID, the Tony Blair Institute, has received several millions of pounds in donations since 2021 from Larry Ellison, co-founder and executive chairman of Oracle. Oracle may be a vendor for much of the enterprise database software that will underpin the government’s digital ID system.

“the system’s implementation will represent a wealth transfer in the order of tens of billions of pounds from the British people to Silicon Valley software firms”

Thirdly, the new digital ID system represents a blatant attempt at state capture by big tech. As constituted, the system’s implementation will represent a wealth transfer in the order of tens of billions of pounds from the British people to Silicon Valley software firms and contractors. The digital ID system will also grant big tech unprecedented access to vast amounts of data on the British public, allowing significant opportunities for profit at our collective expense.

Finally, the planned digital ID system is a security risk of unprecedented proportions. One Login, the existing system which will underpin the digital ID scheme, is riddled with fundamental security flaws. Many of the contractors for One Login have not undergone basic security vetting, with much of the development having been outsourced to Romania. Internal simulations of a cyberattack have shown that One Login can be commandeered by external actors to produce fake IDs, shut down the system nation-wide, and steal the IDs of millions of British citizens.

“The digital ID system will also grant big tech unprecedented access to vast amounts of data on the British public”

You can learn more about the Libertarian party at https://sdp.org.uk/.

Originally posted at https://sdp.org.uk/2025/09/26/sdp-condemns-plans-for-digital-id-system/

Image from Grok.