Digital ID cards: a versatile and useful tool or a worrying cybersecurity risk?

As Keir Starmer aims to revive ID card system first proposed by Tony Blair, we look at the arguments for and against

It is 21 years since Tony Blair's government made proposals for an ID card system to tackle illegal working and immigration, and to make it more convenient for the public to access services.

The same issues are on the agenda again as Keir Starmer revives what became one of New Labour's most controversial policies. He is about to find out if he can defeat the argument that David Cameron's Conservatives made before scrapping it. They said the ID card approach to personal privacy was the worst of all worlds - intrusive, ineffective and enormously expensive".