UK minister confirms digital ID could root out benefit fraud

However, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden made clear the government is also considering how digital ID could be rolled out to other public services too, including the welfare regime. 

He told a POLITICO event at the Labour conference in Liverpool it could be used to check whether benefit claimants are still in Britain and still entitled to their claims — as well as to root out fraudulent applications. 

“I think we do want to explore this,” he said. “The potential for convenience for people in accessing public services is really high. The prime minister is absolutely right to ask us to do the work on this. I hope to be part of that work.”

McFadden said he went to Estonia in August to hear about how the nation manages its own digital ID regime.

He said the Estonian government thought Brits “searching in a draw to try to find a tatty council tax bill” to prove their identity “was a little bit quaint.”