UK Scraps Mandatory Digital ID Cards for Second Time in Two Decades

Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government confirmed July 21, 2026, that the UK is abandoning its mandatory digital ID card scheme, announced by Keir Starmer in September 2025. A parliamentary petition drew nearly three million signatures in opposition. The cancellation echoes the 2011 scrapping of Tony Blair's ID card program — both fell to political transition and public resistance, not technical failure.