Petitions to Parliament · Parliament elected in 2024

Do not introduce Digital ID cards

2,984,191 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 9 July 2025; it closed on 9 January 2026. The Government responded on 2 October 2025. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 8 December 2025.

The petition

The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.

Do not introduce Digital ID cards

We demand that the UK Government immediately commits to not introducing a digital ID cards. There are reports that this is being looked at.

We think this would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system. We oppose the creation of any national ID system.

ID cards were scrapped in 2010, in our view for good reason.

The Government's response

The Government published its response on 2 October 2025; the petitions site lists the Home Office as responsible. Its summary:

We will introduce a digital ID within this Parliament to help tackle illegal migration, make accessing government services easier, and enable wider efficiencies. We will consult on details soon.

The opening 303 words of the 732-word response:

The Government has announced plans to introduce a digital ID system which is fit for the needs of modern Britain. We are committed to making people’s everyday lives easier and more secure, to putting more control in their hands (including over their own data), and to driving growth through harnessing digital technology. We also want to learn from countries which have digitised government services for the benefit of their citizens, in line with our manifesto commitment to modernise government.

Currently, when UK citizens and residents use public services, start a new job, or, for example, buy alcohol, they often need to present an assortment of physical documents to prove who they are or things about themselves. This is both bureaucratic for the individual and creates space for abuse and fraud. This includes known issues with illegal working and modern slavery, while the fragmented approach and multiple systems across Government make it difficult for people to access vital services. Further, there are too many people who are excluded, like the 1 in 10 UK adults who don’t have a physical photo ID, so can struggle to prove who they are and access the products and services they are entitled to.

To tackle these interlinked issues, we will introduce a new national digital ID. This is not a card but a new digital identity that will be available for free to all UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over (although we will consider through consultation if this should be age 13 and over). Over time, people will be able to use it to seamlessly access a range of public and private sector services, with the aim of making our everyday lives easier and more secure. It will not be compulsory to obtain a digital ID but it will be mandatory for some applications.

Read the full response on the petitions site.

Where the signatures came from

Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from Upper Bann, with 88.8 signatures per 1,000 electors (7,218 in all).

2,964,253 of the signatures were from the UK and 19,938 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.

Debate in Parliament

MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 8 December 2025. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.

Source and receipt

• https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/730194.json
  UK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256 b932c8842324ad4c…
• The petition on petition.parliament.uk

The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.