Why Workers Have Seen This Trick Before
We are being told by the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, that digital ID will now be “voluntary”. That it will not be mandatory for work. That the government has listened.
OK.
But let us be absolutely clear. The system itself has not been scrapped.
It is still being built. Still funded. Still planned. The infrastructure is being laid. And history tells us exactly what happens next.
Workers have seen this pattern before.
Optional on Paper, Mandatory in Practice
Things are introduced as “optional”. Employers adopt them. Alternatives disappear. Suddenly you have no real choice. No law changes. No announcement. Just reality.
Take right to work checks. When digital systems were introduced, workers were told they could still use physical documents. In practice, employers now default to online checks. If you cannot use the digital system, your application stalls.
That is not choice. That is coercion by process, something the Workers of England Union has warned about repeatedly in its analysis of employment verification systems.
Workplace Technology and Quiet Exclusion
Look at workplace apps. Rotas and messaging were once paper-based. Apps were sold as convenient. Now shifts are only posted digitally. Messages only sent through apps.
Workers without smartphones are left behind. Employers call it efficiency. We call it exclusion.
This mirrors wider concerns around digital exclusion raised in the WEU’s digital exclusion campaign.
How Safeguarding Became Surveillance
Consider DBS checks. They were introduced for safeguarding roles. Now they have spread across entire sectors. Care. Education. Voluntary work. Even retail.
Workers are expected to comply or lose work opportunities. These expansions do not happen suddenly. They creep in. Slowly. Quietly.
This is not paranoia. This is documented reality.
History Repeats Itself
Even in law we see the same pattern. Smallpox vaccination in Britain began voluntary. By 1853 it was compulsory by Act of Parliament.
COVID vaccination was initially “strongly encouraged” until it became mandatory for care workers in England. Jobs were lost. The policy was later reversed, but the damage was done.
Voluntary today. Mandatory tomorrow.
Why Digital ID Is Different
That is why digital ID matters. Not because it is compulsory now. But because the infrastructure exists. And infrastructure shapes power.
Once systems exist, employers adapt to them. Services rely on them. People are funnelled into them. Refusing becomes “inconvenient”. Then “unreasonable”. Then impossible.
Digital ID is not just a tool. It is a gatekeeper.
Whoever controls verification controls access to work, housing, banking, benefits and healthcare. That power must never sit in the hands of private tech firms, unaccountable systems or the state.
Words Are Cheap
Do not be fooled by softer language.
“Optional” means nothing if employers demand it. “Convenient” means nothing if there is no alternative. “Voluntary” means nothing when the job depends on it.
This is why the Workers of England Union has taken a firm stance, outlined in its policy on digital ID and worker protections.
Our Position Is Clear
The Workers of England Union will not be tricked.
The retreat on mandatory work checks happened because people pushed back. That proves pressure works. But this fight is not over.
Our position must be firm and public:
- No compulsory digital ID for employment
- Offline alternatives must always exist
- Strong legal limits on data use
- No profit-making from worker identity systems
- Protection for digitally excluded workers
Conclusion
This is not anti-technology. It is pro-worker.
Technology should serve people. Not discipline them. Not exclude them. Not quietly become a condition of employment.
The government may have stepped back. But it has not stepped away. The system is still being built.
We know the playbook. We have seen this before. We will not sleepwalk into it again.
Pressure stays on from the Workers of England Union.
