Digital ID Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
Ashley Fox
Main Page: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)Department Debates - View all Ashley Fox's debates with the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
(1 day, 9 hours ago)
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Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
My constituents are opposed to digital ID, and I welcome the Minister’s U-turn—I look forward to him being given responsibility for jury trials as well. The problem is that digital ID will have no effect on illegal working or illegal migration, because employers that ignore the system at the moment will continue to ignore the new system. The real problem is that the Government are not deporting those illegal migrants they catch.
Josh Simons
The digital ID scheme and toughening up illegal labour market enforcement are part of a suite of measures that this Government are delivering to crack down on illegal migration. Other measures include, for example, extending right-to-work checks to cover businesses hiring in the gig economy and zero-hours workers in construction, food delivery, beauty salons and so on. This is all about reducing incentives for illegal migration, and it will change irregular migrants’ perceptions of the toughness of the UK labour market enforcement regime, which the hon. Member’s party failed to do for 14 years.