The British government’s plan to introduce mandatory digital identity documents has triggered an immediate backlash, with more than 1.2 million people signing a petition opposing the proposal within 24 hours of its official rollout.
The petition, titled “Do not introduce Digital ID cards,” had been circulating since the summer with modest traction, hovering near 100,000 signatures earlier this week. But momentum surged after the government soft-launched its identity initiative Thursday evening, followed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s formal announcement on Friday.
Under parliamentary rules, any petition with over 10,000 signatures requires a government response, while petitions reaching 100,000 may be considered for debate in the House of Commons. Although such petitions rarely alter policy unless they already align with government priorities, the extraordinary scale of public opposition has drawn attention to the issue.
The push for digital ID cards has faced resistance from across the political spectrum. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, several Conservative MPs, Liberal Democrats, and even dissenting voices within Starmer’s Labour Party have criticized the move as an unnecessary expansion of state power and a threat to civil liberties.
Opponents argue that mandatory identity cards would erode privacy and give the government sweeping new powers to monitor ordinary citizens. Critics have also likened the proposal to wartime restrictions, warning that once introduced, such measures are rarely rolled back.
The rapid growth of the petition demonstrates strong grassroots resistance to the policy, making it one of the fastest-growing petitions in recent years. While the government is not legally bound to abandon the plan, the surge in opposition underscores a potential political cost for pushing forward with mandatory ID cards without broad public consent.
