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by Ruaraidh Gilmour
20 October 2025
SNP to lead first parliamentary debate on digital ID

Pete Wishart | Alamy

SNP to lead first parliamentary debate on digital ID

The SNP has secured the first parliamentary debate on mandatory digital ID

It will be led by the party’s deputy leader Pete Wishart at Westminster Hall tomorrow.   

It comes after First Minister John Swinney said he would use devolved powers to block the introduction of what he called "Brit Card" in Scotland.  

Swinney told the Sunday Mail earlier this month that the UK Government’s plan would be “an attack on our liberty and privacy and given the way it has been framed by the UK Government as a ‘Brit Card’”, he added it was an “attack on our national identity as well”. 

He argued that spending billions of pounds on the scheme was wrong during a time when it “could be spent on supporting people with their cost of living”.  

Swinney has said he believed the plan by the UK Government “requires Scotland’s consent”, adding: “We will not give that consent in the Scottish Parliament.” 

Over three million people have signed a petition to block digital ID.

The UK Government has said the scheme will help combat illegal work, while making it easier for the vast majority of people to access vital government services.  

The scheme will be available to all UK citizens and legal residents. The government has argued it will save time by ending the need for “complicated” identity checks, which often rely on copies of paper records.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Wishart said: “The Labour Party’s ‘Brit Card’ plan is a desperate attempt to distract from their appalling record in government, but at a time when the cost of living crisis is hammering hard-pressed households, it is quite frankly appalling to waste billions on this harebrained scheme.  

“Keir Starmer and his Labour government are in a complete mess, and this ridiculous 'Brit Card' scheme speaks volumes about just how low they’re prepared to go to distract the public from that.  

“The Labour Government must consign the ‘Brit Card’ to the digital dustbin where it belongs, but this whole sorry affair has told Scots everything they need to know about Westminster and why we need a fresh start with independence.”   

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