Digital ID: 8m company directors being forced is completely wrong

To: Jeremy Hunt MP
From: Neil Lock

Subject: Digital ID: 8m company directors being forced is completely wrong

Dear Mr Hunt,

I totally oppose the attempt to roll out compulsory digital IDs for company directors. With almost zero notice, too. Particularly as I am a company director myself, and my Companies House return is due just a very few weeks away. I am contemplating closing down my company as the only way to avoid this very serious violation of my right to privacy and my right to work.

The public has already shown enormous opposition to being forced into a compulsory government digital ID scheme – there was no such thing in any election manifesto. It is unacceptable that this would sneak such a scheme in for up to 8 million people by the “back door.”

Starmer has told us, apparently with a straight face, that digital ID won’t be required for everyone. Except where it is mandatory – as for company directors!

Alarmingly, this proposal is also based on the Government’s troubled One Login system – already branded “Post Office Horizon all over again”. This seems incredibly irresponsible.

One Login has been plagued by serious security failings: staff were given unrestricted access without proper checks, and whistleblowers who raised alarms were silenced. One can only wonder what “control” facilities will be put into it if it becomes mandatory. Will OneLogin be able to “de-person” people, like Syme in George Orwell’s 1984? After all, consider that banks are now claiming the right to “de-bank” you if you cannot supply ID.

Over £300 million of taxpayers’ money has already been poured into this failing scheme. Needless to say, the state has an appalling track record of failed ID projects, including Tony Blair’s ID cards scrapped in 2010 at a cost of up to £20 billion.

This will create new risks of breaches, identity theft, and government function creep. Company directors – including countless small business owners who keep Britain working – already have safe, proven ways to prove identity. The current requirements are more than adequate – if not also far too onerous.

Attempting to coerce 8 million people into a compulsory digital ID system is not only wrong in principle but wildly disproportionate. If you oppose forcing compulsory digital ID on the public, you must also oppose this. Will you?

Yours sincerely
Neil Lock