UK government scraps plans for digital ID cards after millions of Brits opposed

The U.K.’s incoming prime minister Andy Burnham has confirmed the U.K. government is scrapping a controversial digital ID card scheme announced last year by the country’s previous leader.

The Burnham administration said the savings from the scrapped ID cards program will fund a tax cut aimed at cutting household electricity bills amid the rising costs of living. The newly appointed finance minister, John Healy, said the changes aim to bring some “breathing room on bills, and provide some reassurance this winter.”

The plan to roll out digital identity cards was introduced by the former prime minister Keir Starmer, who argued that state-issued IDs would crack down on migrants working illegally and would modernize access to government services. The national ID card system would have cost the government £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) over three years, but that figure came under dispute as money to fund the scheme was allegedly never allocated.

Starmer announced his intention to resign as prime minister on June 22. He was formally replaced by Burnham on Monday.

Millions of Brits had opposed the plan for mandatory digital ID cards, leading to the second-largest public parliamentary petition on record, gathering close to 3 million signatures rejecting the plan. Critics said that the introduction of ID cards would enable surveillance.

The effort brought back memories of a similar government program to roll out identity cards during the 2000s under the Tony Blair government but was axed in 2011 soon after a new opposition-led coalition government took power following a national election.