Keir Starmer is set to announce digital ID cards for all adults in the UK in a bid to tackle illegal migration.
The PM is expected to confirm the move in a speech on Friday as he seeks to clamp down on those who “slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally”.
The so-called “BritCards” are not billed as compulsory but every adult will need one when trying to get a job or rent a home in the UK, meaning they will be effectively mandatory.
They will allow employers or landlords to verify a citizen's right to live and work in the UK by making it easier for them to check someone’s immigration status.
The digital IDs - which would be stored on smartphones in GOV.UK’s wallet app - would be checked against a central database of people entitled to live and work in the UK. Alternative IDs will be available for those who do not have a smartphone, such as pensioners.
It is hoped the ID cards will also open the door to consumer benefits, such as using the ID as proof of age when buying alcohol or proof of identity when collecting deliveries at the Post Office.
Former PM Tony Blair has long called for ID cards, but the Government previously said it was not planning to bring them in.
The move faced some criticism this evening with concerns raised over privacy of data and digital exclusion of the elderly, those in poverty or disabled people. The plan will be subject to consultation and require legislation, with more information on the timeline of ID cards expected to be set out.
The PM is said to have been determined to press ahead with the scheme to show he has convincing plans in place to tackle illegal migration amid Channel crossing numbers continuing to spiral.
Since being elected, the Labour government has increased enforcement on illegal working, including a clamp down on asylum seekers working for delivery giants Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.
It is hoped that making it easier for employers to check someone’s immigration status, alongside its other measures, will help tackle smuggling gangs who use the promise of jobs to sell places on small boats.
In a speech at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London, on the eve of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Starmer is expected to say: “For too many years it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally.
“It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages. But the simple fact that every nation needs to have control over its borders.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly warned that the UK must reduce "pull factors" for migrants to cross to come to the UK.
Last month, Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said the UK was "behind the curve" as he said digital IDs could be applied to support a clampdown on small boat crossings. It came after he visited Estonia to examine the country's use of digital ID cards.
In June, a report on digital ID by think-tank Labour Together - which is closely aligned with the Government - was passed to No10's policy unit.
It said the ID cards would be issued free of charge to everyone with the right to live and work in the UK at estimated set-up costs of between £140million and £400million.
Earlier this month, the Prime Minister said an ID card system could play an "important part" in stopping illegal migration. He said things had "moved on" since the debate over ID cards during the last Labour government in the 2000s.
He had told the BBC: "We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago, and I think that, psychologically, it plays a different part. For too many years it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally.”
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