Britain's borders are broken – and we can only mend them by bringing in ID cards
FOR most people that I meet , concern about immigration is more about those arriving on small boats than those coming legally to study or work.
It is the undocumented arrivals that worry people, not least when they remain here illegally and disappear into the sub-economy organised by criminal gangs.
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Over 40,000 people arrived on our shores from France last year, and that number is expected to be much higher in 2025.
Unknown numbers of those arriving this way are not claiming asylum but are absorbed into the 'black market'.
They melt away to work as cash-in-hand labourers or in car washes or barbers' shops in towns and cities across the United Kingdom.
It is a cycle of exploitation that leaves everyone poorer.
Illegal immigrants are paid a pittance, British workers are undercut, and the state does not get any tax from this illicit economy.
We have the tools to confront this abuse - but have failed to use it.
The time has come to bring in ID cards.
I have spoken over many years about the importance of introducing a comprehensive and robust identity system in the UK.
But we have reached a moment of reckoning.
The government must grasp the nettle and come up with a proper plan for ID cards, and all the safeguards that must go with it.
Identity cards are a simple, cheap and practical way of tackling the illegal immigration crisis and the black market.
Everyone with a right to live and work in Britain would have their details on their card.
For most of us, the card would be uploaded to our smartphone - like the NHS app or our Covid vaccine passports.
If someone does not have a smartphone they could carry a small ID card around in their wallet, just like a driving licence.
This simple, pocket-sized card would immediately transform the state's ability to crack down on illegal immigration.
At a glance the authorities would be able to tell if someone is in Britain legally or illegally.
If migrants needed an ID card to work in Britain, claim benefits or receive NHS treatment, they would be far less likely to come here illegally, something that the Government has already acknowledged in the White Paper in May.
By its very existence, the scheme would stem the tide of small boat migrants.
Bosses would be required to check that all their workers have a proper ID card. If they didn't then sorry - no job.
Dodgy bosses who hire illegal immigrants without the proper ID would be more easily identified by inspectors.
Without the ability to earn cash, illegal migrants would be far less likely to come here in the first place. Those who are here would be more easily identified and deported.
This would in turn help British workers, whose wages would no longer be undercut by illegal workers.
And it would help the British state by ensuring businesses are legitimate and paying their fair share of tax.
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I know ID cards can work because I tested them when I was Home Secretary.
Sadly only 15,000 were rolled out.
Back then, in the early 2000s, migrants were being smuggled into the UK hidden in lorries arriving through the Channel Tunnel.
We saw that trade slashed by two thirds.
People smuggling gangs realised it was not worth trafficking people to the UK if they could not work or claim benefits here.
ID cards worked. It made no sense to ditch them. But the Coalition government of 2010 scrapped them. That was a decision that has harmed our borders ever since.
I wont pretend ID cards were not controversial. Civil liberties campaigners railed against the scheme raising the spectrum of a knock on the door and a demand to see proof of identity.
But this was always a farcical caricature.
Most of us have willingly handed over our data when we sign up for a social media account, or get a loyalty card with our favourite supermarket.
Big tech companies like Elon Musk's X or Facebook already know nearly all our details and have the capacity to analyse our online activity.
Mobile phones track our activity; where we have gone that day and even how many steps we have taken.
The introduction of ID cards would not create a police state, but would be a crucial weapon in our armoury to fight illegal immigration.
Properly organised, with built in safeguards, an identity system of this kind would safeguard us all.
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