A former Conservative Minister has warned that Sir Keir Starmer's Digital ID cards would mean "reporting to the Government every hour of every day".

Speaking to GB News, Sir Ranil Jayawardena launched a scathing attack on the proposal's financial implications, describing it as "yet another expensive diversion" from the Government's track record of technological failures.

Sir Keir announced Labour's plans last Friday to impose the mandatory cards on all adults by the end of Parliament.

Digital ID is set to become mandatory as a means of proving the right to work in the UK; however, people will not be required to carry it.

Sir Ranil Jayawardena has claimed Digital ID cards will mean 'reporting to the Government every hour of the day'

Delivering his verdict on the policy, he said: "We’re just not a ‘papers, please’ country, and I certainly don't want us to be one.

"And the last time that we had anything of this sort was in the Second World War, and afterwards it was dropped because that's just not the sort of country we are.

"We believe in the freedom of people to live their own lives, not having to report to the government every single hour of every single day, which a digital ID would do in a way that a paper ID could never have done way back when."

Reciting calls to "bring back the Rwanda scheme" as an alternative deterrent, Mr Jayawardena added: "I think it's right that this should be opposed in Parliament.

"I hope that many MPs on all sides will oppose this, because it's not going to solve the problem that they're seeking to fix. This is another distraction.

"Sorry, to be a broken record, I'd bring back the Rwanda scheme. The truth is, the people who are working here illegally are people who are often claiming asylum or failed asylum seekers. This is my point around offshore processing."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that you won't be able to work in the UK without a digital ID

He expressed concern that the scheme would consume "millions, if not billions, of pounds" on what he characterised as another doomed IT venture.

Mr Jayawardena explained: "But actually there's a bigger thing here, which is it's a distraction from the fact that the Government's IT, over decades, simply does not work.

"And the idea that we're going to spend another huge amount of money, millions, if not billions, of pounds, on another IT project."

He suggested the initiative would create "another way to grow an even bigger black hole for Rachel Reeves to have to fill up at the Budget, putting up taxes on everyone."

Mr Jayawardena told GB News that they should instead 'bring back the Rwanda scheme' as a deterrent

He stated: "This is another way to grow an even bigger black hole for Rachel Reeves to have to fill up at the Budget, putting up taxes on everyone."

Mr Jayawardena urged MPs across party lines to reject the digital ID proposals in Parliament, arguing the system would fail to address its intended objectives.

Rather than pursuing technological solutions, he advocated "reinstating the Rwanda" scheme as a more effective approach to tackling illegal immigration.

He maintained that offshore processing represented a more practical solution than implementing a digital identification system that would fundamentally alter the nature of British society whilst failing to resolve immigration challenges.