The UK government is set to introduce digital ID cards to tackle illegal migration.

The announcement will be made by Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a speech on Friday, it is understood.

The so-called ‘Brit-Card’ will be subject to consultation and thought to require legislation, as first reported by the Times newspaper.

The scheme will allow the verification of a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK.

Under the plans, anyone starting a new job or looking to rent a home would be required to show the card on a smartphone app.

It would then be checked against a central database of people entitled to live and work in the UK.

It is hoped this would reduce the attraction of working in the UK illegally, including for delivery companies.

This comes amid calls from French President Emmanuel Macron for the UK to reduce “pull factors” for migrants to cross to come to the UK.

A total of 1,157 people have arrived on small boats in the last week, according to Home Office statistics.

Prime Minister Starmer is due to speak at the Global Progress Action Summit in London alongside Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney.

Earlier this month, Mr Starmer said an ID card system could play an “important part” in stopping illegal migration.

He said things had “moved on” since the debate over ID cards during the last Labour government in the 2000s.

He had told the BBC: “We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did 20 years ago, and I think that, psychologically, it plays a different part.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also previously been positive about the policy.

The UK has only previously had mandatory ID cards during wartime. The last ID scheme was scrapped in 1952.

John Major’s government ran a consultation on reintroducing an ID card scheme in the 1995, but they were never brought in.

His successor, Tony Blair, then considered a voluntary ID card, but it was not fully rolled out amid objections from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

Mr Blair has since called for their introduction.

His calls were backed up by Labour campaign group Labour Together earlier this year which has been closely linked to Mr Starmer and the Government.

The thinktank published a 30-page document in June in favour of the ‘Brit Card’.

In the report, it said: “The Labour government has the opportunity to build a new piece of civic infrastructure, something that would become a familiar feature of daily life for everyone in the country.

“It would support better enforcement of migration rules, and protect vulnerable British citizens from being wrongly denied their rights.”

The civil liberty group Big Brother Watch has again warned against their introduction.

A petition started by the group has reached more than 101,000 signatures.

In a letter to Mr Starmer on Wednesday, the group said: “Mandatory digital ID is highly unlikely to achieve the government’s objective of tackling unauthorised immigration.

“The proposed schemes fundamentally misunderstand the ‘pull factors’ that drive migration to the UK and would do very little to tackle criminal people-smuggling gangs or employers and landlords who operate ‘off the books’.

“Instead, it would push unauthorised migrants further into the shadows, into more precarious work and unsafe housing.”

Ed Davey told the Liberal Democrat conference this week that his party would need to properly “scrutinise” any details, but said it was not necessarily against the policy.

Responding to the ad-hoc poll during an event in Bournemouth, Mr Davey replied: “Times have changed, and that is why I am saying ‘let’s look at it’.”

He added: “There are models that may answer our objections as liberals.”

Within hours of arriving to Ireland for the first time, Pittsburgh native Caley Sanguigni’s most prominent impression is that the Irish “love their swear words like a drunk Pittsburgher”.

“Our Uber driver who took us here was swearing up a storm,” she said.

Standing in Dublin Castle’s upper courtyard, which, for three days, is hosting an National Football League (NFL) festival, she said: “It’s like Pittsburgh invaded Dublin.”

Sanguigni is one of more than 70,000 people due to attend the first ever regular-season NFL game played in Dublin.

Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers v Minnesota Vikings clash has drawn a significant number of visitors from the US, which, according to NFL UK and Ireland general manager Henry Hodgson, is not typical for games hosted outside the sport’s homeland.

He cited data based on expressions of interest logged before tickets went on sale earlier this year. A third of those intending to attend were from the US, another third was based in Ireland and the remainder were from the UK and the rest of Europe.

“That is not normally the make-up of those games,” he said.

For other games staged abroad, such as in the UK, he said between 60 and 70 per cent of tickets were typically purchased by locals.

“I think it speaks to Dublin as a bucket list location.”

[ The NFL comes to Dublin: How it became the richest sports league in the worldOpens in new window ]

The NFL stages games abroad with a view to expanding the reach and popularity of “America’s Game”. With the number of Irish NFL fans, and viewership of the sport here, rising in recent years, he expects the occasion to be a “catalyst for further growth”.

Should Sunday’s game have the desired impact, something he said will be measured by the NFL and the Irish Government afterwards, more Irish fixtures could be on the cards.

There have been some high-profile attacks on tourists in Dublin in recent months and years, including a 2023 assault on New York native Stephen Termini, which prompted the US embassy in Dublin to warn visitors to Ireland to keep a “low profile”.

However, Hodgson maintains that Dublin and Ireland are perceived as being “incredibly safe” by US visitors.

The prospect of pro-Palestinian protests on Sunday was not a concern, he said, adding that sport can be a “unifying force” and there will be no attempt to ban any flags at the game, Palestinian or otherwise.

An Garda Síóchána expects arrangements put in place for the game at Croke Park to cause significant traffic disruption and delays. The force said a “large number” of uniformed gardaí will be deployed, as well specialist units including the public order unit, armed support unit and air support unit.

On Thursday, Dublin’s streets, pubs and tour buses were already awash with the signature black, gold and purple colours of the Steelers and Vikings.

[ State’s €10m spend on NFL match won’t sit easy with GAA players if grant request rejectedOpens in new window ]

Many of those who had travelled said Dublin felt “welcoming” and “safe” when compared to other European capitals, with almost all expressing shock at the presence of the sun.

An older couple arriving at Dublin Castle were overheard asking a steward how to pronounce “Galway”. That tourist hotspot, as well as the Cliffs of Moher, Killarney and Spike Island in Co Cork, appeared to be on the must-see lists of many of those who have planned extended stays.

Ashley Graf, a Vikings fan from Minnesota, travelled to Dublin with her mother Sherral, saying the country has been on their “bucket list” for some time.

“Win or lose, it’s still fun to be here. Everyone’s been really nice and helpful,” she said.

Sarah Roy, a native of Ottawa, Canada, who came to travel around the island and see the game, said the Irish have a “wonderful reputation” abroad.

“We’ve never heard anything bad about the Irish people and they’ve surpassed expectations,” she said.

Stacey Wilson and her daughter Brittany, from North Carolina, described Ireland as a “completely different world” to what they are used to back home.

“It is expensive, I’m not gonna lie, but we expected that,” she said.

Sophia K Choudry

‘Nothing’s changed’

BBC/Harry Low

Sophia K Choudry