Digital ID: Public Consultation

Debate between Richard Tice and Darren Jones

Tuesday 10th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

Childcare is a great example. To claim a 20% reduction in childcare fees, people must log into the HMRC website every three months, calculate the figure for 80% of the fees, do the card transaction themselves, find the nursery provider and send the money. On top of that, they get a form from the council every quarter with a code they must fill out—crazy. The whole point of gov.uk and digital ID is to make things like that quicker and easier for members of the public at home, so that the user experience is as good in the public sector as it is in the private sector.

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

The public want faster, better public services, but the existing gov.uk app works very well—I suspect most of us use it. That is a massive difference from what the public do not want, which is a digital identity card system. The first mistake that the Minister has made is calling this statement “Digital ID”. Can the Minister be honest with this House and the British people: is this about improving the gov.uk app as it currently exists or is it about a digital identity card system through the back door?

[Darren Jones]

As I said in my statement, if people want to use online services, they can log into some websites in some Departments independently, but they must log into each one differently, as they do not talk to each other. The difference between one login and digital ID is that by proving who they are in the app, we can plumb those services into one place, so there is a front door to those services. I am confident that the public would expect that and would want to be able to vote for that in the future, in contrast to privatising the NHS, which they definitely will not vote for.

Government Performance against Fiscal Rules

Debate between Richard Tice and Darren Jones

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

In a more conciliatory tone to Conservative Members, let me say that they have so few MPs they had no choice.

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

Since the Budget, some 270,000 jobs have been lost and borrowing is up by tens of billions of pounds. Just last week, the Office for Budget Responsibility indicated that it will lower its forecast for the second time since the Budget. Does the Chancellor still have confidence in the OBR, or has she lost confidence in it?

[Darren Jones]

The Chancellor has confidence in the OBR.

Public Finances: Borrowing Costs

Debate between Richard Tice and Darren Jones

Thursday 9th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

Is the Chief Secretary aware that the last two months’ GDP figures, for September and October, are both down? Is he aware that sterling is falling—in fact, almost collapsing? Confidence is falling and investors are fleeing. The only things going up are inflation, wasteful public spending and the cost of debt. Be under no illusion: we are heading towards a financial crisis. Will he ask the Chancellor to return from her ridiculous trip to China, to reverse course, and to cut daft spending and wasteful regulations, so that we can create some growth?

[Darren Jones]

I think the question was whether I was going to demand that the Chancellor come back from her trade trip to China. I will not, no.