A new poll has discovered that support for ID cards among Britons has completely collapsed – but only after Sir Keir Starmer adopted it as his new flagship policy. Despite longstanding liberty concerns about the proposals when Gordon Brown tried to introduce them in the late 2000s, a sizeable amount of the public supported them.

In 2008, the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust found that the public was split 50-47 against their introduction. However, by the early summer of 2025, net support had risen to a whopping 35%, prompting Downing Street to go for the eye-catching Sir Tony Blair policy. But since the Prime Minister unveiled the plans, that has dropped to a miserable -14%, with onlookers warning Sir Keir’s unpopularity has destroyed support for the policy.

Now polling as the most hated prime minister since the 1970s, Sir Keir has now been branded the man with the “reverse Midas touch” – a reference to the ancient Greek myth about a king who could turn things to gold.

Just 31% of people surveyed after Sir Keir’s announcement said they were supportive of the scheme, compared to 45% against.

Of that 45%, feelings ran strong for 32%, who said they were “strongly opposed”.

More than 2.6million people have now signed a parliamentary petition against the introduction of digital ID, with more than one million in the first 12 hours alone.

The petition demands that the UK Government immediately rule out introducing the card, arguing it “would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system.”

The scheme has a wide range of frontline political opponents, including both Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage.

Luke Tryl, chief of polling firm More in Common, said: “Digital ID is not unpopular in principle. Earlier this summer, we found a majority support the policy.

“Yet in perhaps the clearest sign of the Government’s low standing, it now seems to be suffering from a reverse Midas touch – once the Government announced the plans, support dropped.

“If the Government is to rebuild support for digital ID, it will have to start with making a clearer use case.

“The risk is that, in the face of organised opposition, a policy that had the potential to be popular now becomes another millstone for the Government.”

At Labour conference this week, a former adviser to both the Prime Minister and Sir Tony warned that the plan could end up “dead in the water” within six months because Downing Street had failed to make a convincing case for them.

Writing for the Daily Express last week, Reform UK’s Mr Farage said Labour’s plan for digital ID cards “will do nothing to combat illegal immigration. But it will give the state more power to control the British people”.

He added: “Our country has never been a ‘your papers, please’ surveillance society.

“What about our European neighbours, such as Germany and France, where there are ID cards and strict checks? It has made no difference at all to the immigration crisis there, and nor will it here.”