Sir Keir Starmer announced the digital ID plans on Friday (Image: Getty)

There are concerns the plans could see elderly people shut out of vital services (Image: Getty)

It is hoped the cards will make it easier for people to access Government services, however the charity director at Age UK voiced concerns the elderly could be excluded.

Caroline Abrahams told The Telegraph: “There is a responsibility on decision-makers to ensure that everyone benefits from the advance of technology, whether they are digital natives or not. This means developing so-called ‘assisted digital’ approaches too.

Former director-general of Border Force, Tony Smith, who led the development of biometric permits under Sir Tony Blair, also expressed concerns about how this could affect the elderly.

“The Government will have to figure out how they manage this cohort. That’s going to have to be a carrot rather than stick approach.”

Reports suggest those who do not want to carry a digital ID card or do not operate digitally could be given a physical card instead.

Writing in the Daily Express, Reform leader Nigel Farage said: “The Labour Government’s plan to impose digital ID cards on all adults will do nothing to combat illegal immigration. But it will give the state more power to control the British people.”

“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,” the petition states.

Darren Jones, who is leading the policy as chief secretary to the PM, suggested digital ID cards could have wider uses in the future.

People will not be required to carry the ID, which will be held on smartphones, or asked to produce it.

Keir Starmer warned digital ID cards could create one big problem for pensioners

Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for a national digital identity system triggered a wider debate about how older people would cope with a rapidly changing system of identification, particularly those who do not own smartphones or have limited confidence using digital services.

When the proposal was announced in September 2025, the Government presented digital ID as a way to simplify identity checks, improve access to public services and make it harder for people without permission to work in Britain to enter the labour market illegally.

But the proposal immediately raised questions about digital exclusion.

One of the groups repeatedly mentioned in the debate was pensioners. Critics argued that a system centred on smartphones could create difficulties for older people who were not comfortable with apps, did not have reliable internet access or simply preferred traditional documents.

That concern was not entirely theoretical. Government figures published in July 2026 showed that 20 per cent of people aged 75 and over did not have home internet access in 2025. The same figures showed that only 54 per cent of people aged 75 and over had foundational digital skills, compared with 85 per cent across the population as a whole.

The figures help explain why the question of accessibility became such an important part of the digital-ID debate.

What was Starmer’s original proposal?

The digital-ID plan announced under Starmer was intended to create a free digital identity stored on a person’s smartphone.

The Government said it could contain information including a person’s name, date of birth, nationality or residency status and photograph. It was designed to provide a convenient way of proving identity and could eventually be used in interactions with government departments and private-sector organisations.

The most controversial element concerned employment.

The original proposal stated that digital ID would be required for right-to-work checks. The Government argued that this would make it harder for people without the right to work in Britain to obtain employment and would therefore reduce one of the incentives associated with irregular migration.

However, the system was not originally intended to mean that every pensioner would have to carry a digital ID.

Contemporary reporting explained that pensioners and people who were not seeking employment would not have been required to use the system for work purposes.

That distinction became important because some of the public debate treated the proposal as though every aspect of everyday life would immediately depend upon a smartphone-based identity.

Why were pensioners singled out?

The central issue was digital exclusion.

For many younger people, using a smartphone application to confirm identity is increasingly routine. Banking, shopping, travel, healthcare appointments and government services can already involve digital verification.

But the experience is different for people who are less familiar with smartphones or who do not have access to suitable devices.

A 75-year-old without home internet access, for example, could face a very different experience from a younger smartphone user if an important service increasingly relies on digital authentication.

This does not mean that every pensioner struggles with technology.

Millions of older people use smartphones, online banking and digital government services every day. Digital skills among older people have also improved significantly. Government figures indicate that the proportion of people aged 75 and over with foundational digital skills increased by 23 percentage points between 2022 and 2025.

The issue is therefore one of access and choice rather than age alone.

Critics wanted reassurance that older people would not lose access to services simply because they preferred a physical document.

Concerns about becoming digitally excluded

During the earlier debate, Conservative politicians and other critics raised concerns about people who did not own smartphones.

Helen Whately, then the Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, argued that the Government had not sufficiently considered people without smartphones, while a Labour MP, Graham Stringer, also questioned the cost and justification of the proposed system.

The concerns went beyond pensioners.

People with disabilities, those on low incomes, people without reliable internet connections and individuals with limited digital skills could potentially face similar difficulties.

The Government’s own equality impact assessment later recognised that digital exclusion could affect older people and disabled people. It said non-digital routes should remain available for relevant checks and that older people who could not access or use digital services should not be excluded from demonstrating their eligibility.

That acknowledgement was significant because it showed that ministers were aware that moving services online could create practical barriers for some groups.

The Government’s proposed safeguards

The original Government proposals attempted to address some of these concerns.

The digital-ID scheme was supposed to be free, and ministers said alternative routes would be available for people without smartphones.

The Government also said face-to-face assistance would be provided during rollout and that physical alternatives would be considered for people who could not use smartphones.

Accessibility features such as screen readers, voice commands and biometric authentication were also discussed for people with disabilities.

The Government’s stated objective was therefore not to make smartphones the only possible means of proving identity.

Nevertheless, critics questioned whether such safeguards would remain effective if digital identification became increasingly common across private and public services.

That is where the pensioner argument became broader than the original right-to-work proposal.

Could digital ID eventually affect everyday life?

The Government said digital ID could eventually make it easier to access a range of services.

The March 2026 Government explainer listed examples including applying for benefits, accessing public services, proving age, opening bank accounts and proving identity to private organisations. It also said digital ID could be used in connection with voting identification.

For supporters of digital identity, that offered a potential convenience.

Instead of repeatedly producing passports, driving licences or other documents, a person could potentially confirm a specific fact about themselves electronically.

For critics, however, the expansion of digital verification raised a different question: what happens to people who cannot or do not want to use the technology?

That distinction is important.

A digital system can be technically optional while becoming increasingly important in practice if more organisations choose to use it.

Privacy was another part of the controversy

The pensioner issue was only one element of the debate.

Civil-liberties organisations also questioned how personal information would be protected and whether digital identity could eventually be connected with a much wider range of government databases.

The Government said the proposed system would use security and encryption and that third parties would only receive personal information when the user initiated the sharing or when it was otherwise permitted under data-protection law.

Critics remained concerned about cybersecurity and the consequences of a major breach.

These arguments were particularly relevant because a digital identity can potentially become a reusable credential rather than a single physical document.

The debate therefore involved two competing considerations: convenience and efficiency on one side, and privacy, resilience and inclusion on the other.

What happened to the scheme?

There is an important update to the original story.

The national digital-ID programme proposed under the previous government was subsequently cancelled in 2026.

A House of Commons Library briefing published on September 4, 2026, states that the Government had cancelled plans for the national digital-ID scheme. The Home Affairs Committee’s Government Response, published on September 18, likewise confirmed that the national programme and its proposed mandatory use for right-to-work checks would not proceed.

That means the original proposal should not now be described as a national scheme that pensioners are currently being forced to adopt.

However, the broader debate about digital identity has not disappeared.

The Home Affairs Committee’s report notes that cancellation of the national programme does not end wider government work involving digital identity.

Digital verification is also being developed in other areas, meaning the question of how older people interact with increasingly digital services remains relevant.

What the pensioner issue tells us

The controversy surrounding Starmer’s digital-ID plans revealed a wider challenge facing governments.

Digitalisation can make services faster and simpler for people who are comfortable with technology. But the same change can create barriers for people who lack devices, connectivity, confidence or digital skills.

Pensioners are an important part of that discussion because the data show that internet access and digital skills are lower among the oldest age groups than among the population as a whole.

At the same time, it would be misleading to portray older people as uniformly opposed to technology. Digital skills among people aged 75 and over have improved substantially, and many pensioners use online services every day.

The real question is whether physical and assisted alternatives remain available when digital systems expand.

That question extends beyond one political party or one particular digital-ID proposal.

A debate that has outlasted the original plan

Starmer’s original digital-ID announcement was closely linked to immigration and illegal working. The Government argued that stronger digital checks could make it harder for people without permission to work in Britain to enter the labour market.

The pensioner debate, however, focused on something quite different: whether technological change could unintentionally exclude people who were not able or willing to use smartphones.

That concern remains relevant even though the national scheme itself has since been cancelled.

The experience demonstrates why any future digital public-service programme will face questions about accessibility, physical alternatives, cybersecurity and data protection.

For pensioners, the key issue is not simply whether a digital identity exists.

It is whether an older person can continue to access essential services if they do not own a smartphone, cannot use an app independently or prefer to use traditional identification.

As Britain continues to move more services online, that question is likely to remain part of the wider debate over digital government.

The original digital-ID programme may have been cancelled, but the underlying challenge has not disappeared: technological modernisation has to work not only for people who are already digitally confident, but also for those who need a different route.

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