LOCAL MP Rachel Gilmour has slammed the Government’s plans to introduce mandatory digital ID cards In a statement this week she claimed the scheme would “cost billions with zero guarantee of success.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced government plans for a digital ID system to be rolled out across the UK by the end of this Parliament, with the aim of proving an individual’s right to live and work in the UK.

Citing border security, the Prime Minister said: “You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It’s as simple as that.”

The government confirmed that it intends to fully roll out the cards before the end of this parliament in 2029.

Issued free of charge, the digital cards would be held on mobile phones similarly to the NHS app or contactless payments.

Lib Dem MP Mrs Gilmour, whose constituency covers West Somerset, Wellington and parts of the Blackdown Hills and the Culm Valley, hit back on social media to say she was “wholeheartedly against” the scheme and would “fight hard to resist more state control.”

Mrs Gilmour added: “Mandatory digital ID will cost taxpayers billions with zero guarantee of success. Time and time again government tech projects waste huge sums of money and don’t work.

“Local people want to see action on the issues that matter to them. We need action to fix our NHS and tackle the cost-of-living crisis, not just gimmicks like this.

“The government needs to scrap this plan and get on with making our country a better place to live. I oppose the Labour Party’s long obsession with ID cards. The Liberal Democrats will fight against it tooth and nail - just as we successfully did against Tony Blair’s ID cards.”