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Young pubgoers may need to produce a digital ID card to buy a pint in the pub, under government plans to expand the controversial scheme.
Officials have suggested that digital ID could replace the ‘assortment of physical documents’ currently used by people to prove their age or status when buying things like alcohol.
The idea is the latest application suggested for the scheme, which was originally justified on the grounds of clamping down on illegal working.
Critics warned that the use of a centralised digital database for proof of age purposes could allow the government to collect ‘intrusive’ information on individuals, including monitoring their movements and drinking habits.
Former Tory cabinet minister Sir Gavin Williamson said the idea was further evidence that a ‘Big Brother approach’ is driving Labour’s digital ID agenda.
‘With every piece of information that comes out, it is increasingly clear that the reach and scope and intrusion that the government is planning is getting ever larger,’ he said.
‘Whether it is the government tracking you as you go to a pub, or monitoring your purchases or potentially monitoring your movements, it is deeply concerning.
‘What business is it of the government to be monitoring where people buy a pint? It is intrusive and dangerous – the government should keep its nose out of people’s lives.
‘None of this will do anything to tackle illegal working – it just increases state intrusion into the lives of law-abiding citizens.’
Although youngsters already have to prove their age to purchase alcohol, the process is not linked to a centralised digital database run by the state.
Fellow Tory MP Greg Smith warned it could be a ‘short step’ between the government having a database of information about where an individual has used digital ID to buy alcohol or cigarettes or place a bet, and officials building up a profile of their lifestyle.
He warned that the creeping expansion of applications being suggested by ministers for digital ID could have ‘sinister implications’ for civil liberties.
The exact scope of digital ID cards remains unclear. Ministers have claimed the plan is needed to help tackle illegal working and have vowed to make digital ID a requirement for taking a job by the time of the next election.
But they have already signalled that the system will be put to far greater use in future.
A petition against digital ID signed by almost three million people has been dismissed by ministers who vowed to press ahead with imposing them by the end of the decade.
In a formal response, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the scheme would eventually become people’s ‘boarding pass to government’.
The department said it could be used to access a wide range of public services, including for claiming benefits and paying tax.
It also suggested that digital ID could become required for age-related purposes, including alcohol.
‘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,’ the response stated. ‘This is both bureaucratic for the individual and creates space for abuse and fraud.’
Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberties group Big Brother watch, said: ‘This has all the hallmarks of a very expansive system where we suddenly need permits and a digital licence to live our everyday lives.’
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said he would rather go to prison than get a digital ID.
He told GB News: ‘Before you know it, you’ll have all your medical records on there if you’re not jabbed, because the Government thinks you should be, you’ll find yourself genuinely a second-class citizen.
‘I think the whole thing is appalling. I will not be having digital ID. Put me in prison; not a problem. I will not be having digital ID and I really mean it.’
Ministers face a growing backlash after the Daily Mail revealed they are looking at issuing digital ID cards to children as young as 13.
A Government spokesman defended the plan, saying digital ID could be needed by younger teenagers if they want to get a Saturday job.
The spokesman added: ‘It will be a legal requirement for employers to check someone's digital ID as part of Right to Work checks. Children can work part-time from the age of 14. In some local council areas this is from the age of 13. So, we need to consult on whether it should be offered to those aged 13 and over.’
Victoria Collins, Liberal Democrat technology spokesman, accused ministers of ‘mission creep’, adding: ‘The Government is already plotting to drag teenagers into a mandatory digital ID scheme before it’s even off the ground. It’s frankly sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.’
Sir Keir Starmer discussed digital ID during a trip to India this week, where a similar scheme has already been introduced.
The Prime Minister suggested the scheme could eventually be required for people to ‘access your own money’.
But he acknowledged the government needed to do much more to sell the scheme to a sceptical public.
Speaking in Mumbai, he said: ‘Here in India, I think it's a billion people have digital ID. It has been taken up on a voluntary basis in huge numbers, not least because it means that you can access your own money, make payments so much more easily.
‘So I think now we need to go out and make that case of the huge benefits this will bring, there needs to be a national debate about it.’