In response to the Prime Minister’s speech, Reform said the public was “waking up to the fact Starmer is just continuing the Tory legacy of high taxes and mass immigration”.

A party spokesman said: “For decades the British people have been betrayed by both Labour and the Conservatives.

“People have voted election after election for lower taxes and controlled immigration, instead both parties have done the opposite.

“The public are now waking up to the fact Starmer is just continuing the Tory legacy of high taxes and mass immigration. Britain needs Reform.”

Caroline Abrahams CBE, charity director at Age UK said: “Many other similar countries already have ID cards so it’s no surprise that the UK is considering following suite, but if this initiative is to be successful and fair the Government must also step up and be much more intentional about digital inclusion. It’s not just the millions of older people who aren’t internet savvy or online at all who are losing out from the rush towards digital everything, it’s also the estimated 8.5 million adults of working age who struggle with reading and writing and who are unlikely to thrive in a digital world.

“There will always be some people, of all ages, who for various reasons do not use computers so there will be a continuing need to provide good offline alternatives.

“The sprint towards digital by default is chaotic, unfair and inefficient and it’s only with Government leadership that we’ve any chance of getting the best from it and sharply reducing the numbers who feel totally excluded, among them millions of older people. If digital ID cards are coming this really must change.”

Sir Keir Starmer‘s appearance on the panel has come to an end.

Growth cannot be a “line on a graph” but must be felt by everyone, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The Prime Minister said: “It can’t be a line on a graph, and it can’t be growth in some parts of the country.

“It’s got to be in every single part, which is why we’ve worked really hard on things like inward investment, record inward investment, in the first year of the Labour Government.”

Speaking during a panel with Australian, Canadian and Icelandic prime ministers, he said that for too long social democrats have thought that “redistribution was the only thing that mattered”.

Sir Keir added: “For fairness, you create wealth and then you redistribute. And that’s a one-word answer. For too many of our communities, it isn’t.

“They want the pride to stand on their own two feet. They want the wealth to be in their community.”

Sir Keir Starmer declares that Labour is now in an “open fight” with Reform UK.

He said: “The next election is not going to be the traditional Labour versus Conservative; the Conservative party is withering on the vine.

“I want this to be an open fight now between Labour and Reform.”

The UK is at a “crossroads” and there is a “battle for the soul of this country” amid the challenge from Reform UK, Sir Keir Starmer said.

The Prime Minister said that after decades of elections that are essentially between Labour and the Conservatives, “we face a very different proposition with Reform and Nigel Farage”.

He added: “And so the battle of our times is between patriotic national renewal in the way I’ve described under a Labour government which is capable of expressing who and what we are as a country accurately and in a way where people feel they’re valued and they belong and that we can actually move forward together, versus something which is turning into a toxic divide.

“That march that we had here two weeks ago in London, in Whitehall – that sent shivers through the spines of many of our communities well away from London, not just those in the immediate vicinity.

“So there’s a battle for the soul of this country now as to what sort of country do we want to be.

“Because that toxic divide, that decline with Reform is built on a sense of grievance, grievance politics, identifying something real for sure, but relying on the problem existing in order for their politics to persist.”

Progressive politicians have been “squeamish” about saying things that are “clearly true”, the Prime Minister has said.

Sir Keir Starmer told the Global Progress Action Summit in London that progressives needed “to look ourselves in the mirror and recognise where we allow our parties to shy away from people’s concerns and let the politics of purity patronise people”.

Turning to illegal immigration, he said: “For too many years, it’s been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally because, frankly, we have been squeamish about saying things that are clearly true.”

He added: “It’s not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labour that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages.

“But the simple fact is that every nation needs to have control over its borders. We do need to know who is in our country.”

The Prime Minister’s speech has ended.

He has moved to the side of the stage where he will answer questions as part of a panel.

Starmer says it’s been too easy for illegal immigrants to “slip into the shadow economy”. He says “we’ve been squeamish” on the issue.

He says it is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely exploitation of foreign workers and undercuts fair wages

Sir Keir then goes on to announce a free mandatory digital ID for a right to work in the UK.

“You will not be able to work in the UK if you do not have digital ID,” he says.

Keir Starmer criticised “industrialised infrastructure of grievance” that spreads a “miserable, joyless and demonstrably untrue” vision of world.

He added that it prays on real problems so there’s a “coming, defining, violent” struggle ahead. “You don’t have to be a great historian to know where that ends up” if progressives don’t win that.

The Prime Minister has said the world is living at a time that is “more dangerous, less secure than many of us have known in our lifetimes”

Keir Starmer is talking about cities being portrayed as entirely different from reality.

He says: “You may have noticed this city isn’t the wasteland of anarchy some would have you believe.”

Keir Starmer says centre-left parties are having “quite the year so far”. He cited other leaders including Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The PM said: “I don’t accept the argument that somehow our politics is dying out.”

He added: “Now is the itme for social democrats to confront direclty some of the challenges and lies that have taken root in our societies.”

Sir Keir Starmer told the Global Progress Action summit “we are in an era of huge challenge” amid suggestions that centre-left politics is “dying out”.

In a keynote speech, the Prime Minister said: “This is a gathering of people bound by a common cause.

“The patriotic renewal of our nations that is underpinned by the values of dignity and respect, equality and fairness, and the belief that social democratic means are the best way to pursue that goal.

“But it’s also a room that puts paid to a story we often hear in the press these days, that somehow our politics is dying out.

“And yes, we are in an era of huge challenge, but we can take heart when we look around the world, in fact we only need to look around this room.”

Keir Starmer about to give major speech where he is expected to to discuss ID cards and immigration.

The UK population is estimated to have grown by more than three-quarters of a million in the year to June 2024, the second largest annual numerical increase in over 75 years.

Most of the increase was due to international migration, with natural change – the difference between births and deaths – accounting for only a small proportion.

Read the full story here.

Keir Starmer has confirmed he will press ahead with plans to introduce mandatory digital ID cards for all British citizens, a move he claims will help crack down on illegal migration. The policy, which has been pushed by the PM’s mentor Tony Blair since 2001, will see everyone handed the free form of ID, which will then be used to access public services.

Read the full story here

Keir Starmer’s plans to force every adult in the UK to have a digital ID card have been dealt a huge blow.

The Scottish Government confirmed it opposes the plans and vowed to fight the proposals that “anyone can demand to see”.

The Prime Minister is expected to confirm plans for a so-called “Brit card” on Friday amid fears the black economy is convincing Channel migrants to cross in small boats.

Read the full story here

Population stats for the UK in mid-2024 will be released at 9.30am. There is likely to be lots of scrutiny on immigration figures.

Here’s Reform UK leader Nigel Faragage responding to the Government’s announcement of digital IDs.

The Prime Minister’s speech on “patriotic renewal” at the Global Progress Action Summit begins in London at 11am, followed by a chat with Canada’s Mark Carney and Australia’s Anthony Albanese (as well as Iceland’s Kristrún Frostadóttir).

Sir Keir Starmer says plans for a new digital ID held on people’s phones will be an “enormous opportunity” for the UK and make working illegally tougher.

Digital ID will become mandatory as a means of proving the right to work under the plans, but people will not be required to carry or asked to produce it.

It will be available to UK citizens and legal residents by the end of this Parliament.

The Prime Minister said: “I know working people are worried about the level of illegal migration into this country. A secure border and controlled migration are reasonable demands, and this government is listening and delivering.

“Digital ID is an enormous opportunity for the UK. It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure.

“And it will also offer ordinary citizens countless benefits, like being able to prove your identity to access key services swiftly – rather than hunting around for an old utility bill.”