By Letters Editor

Copyright metro

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

Readers debate digital ID cards, stating concerns over data, migration, cost to the taxpayer and if there should be a referendum to make a decision on the controversial policy (Credits: Getty Images)

Reader attacks Starmer’s claim that Reform’s migration policy is ‘racist’

I do not understand Labour’s fightback against the popularity of Reform by denigrating its leader’s policies as ‘racist’ (Metro, Sun).
That’s how Sir Keir Starmer described Nigel Farage’s intention to scrap migrants’ indefinite leave to remain and deport hundreds of thousands of those living and working here.
I doubt the ten million men and women intending to vote Reform see themselves as such and l don’t think they will return, chastened, to the Labour fold.
What the prime minister has to do is listen to the unusually perceptive advice of US president Donald Trump on how to win elections: promise to secure your borders, reduce taxation and then act upon it.
Starmer misunderstood why Labour won last year. It was because people were fed up with the Tories failing to deport illegal immigrants, primarily, and not because Labour policies shone through.
This means the government needs to round up illegal migrants and revive the Rwanda deportation scheme. Of course, the party faithful may not be willing to stomach this but it would be very popular with the country at large.
In addition, the chancellor needs to make significant cuts to the welfare benefits bill and civil service roll and use the savings to cut business and personal taxes to kick-start the economy and revive growth.
Again, this tried-and-tested policy will not fly with the Labour membership, who want quite the opposite. The result will be tax rises this winter that will sink the government even further electorally.
Labour will then spend political capital in the next three years impotently arguing over these issues and others of little concern to the British people, watching in bewilderment as first Wales and then Scotland and finally England slip away in an alternative electoral direction. Chris Shepherd, London

This reader says ‘the government needs to round up illegal migrants and revive the Rwanda deportation scheme’ (Picture: EPA/Lukas Coch)

Will digital IDs mean ‘fewer human jobs’?

I never expected much from the zombies of isolating – sorry, ‘social’ – media who offer all their data to tech companies to watch make-up and silly dance videos.

But I didn’t think the voting British public would bow down and kiss the feet of their masters when told we will have to have digital IDs and provide fingerprints and facial photographs (like criminals) when we travel to Europe (Metro, Fri).

In both cases, a tech company managed to push their product under the banner of ‘efficiency’ (meaning fewer human jobs).

For at least a decade, we have stood aside as our societies and job market have been gutted by fintech, healthtech and biotech, most of which are run by those with a psychopathic obsession for data collection. But let me tell you – as someone who lived with a chief technical officer – once you let them normalise mass data collection and biological fingerprinting, you will enter a new era of the dark age of surveillance and there will be no going back! The question of the hour is – will we protest and hold our MPs and government accountable to restore our jobs and liberties?

Or will we turn over and show our bellies to be scratched while we give up our jobs, welfare, affordable energy and food and biological data? Catherine Croft, London

This reader says public are giving up ‘jobs, welfare, affordable energy, food and biological data’ (Picture: Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock)

Reader questions what those opposing digital IDs have to ‘hide’

ID cards will help to track criminals and identify those here illegally, to name but two good reasons. We had them in World War II – why not have them now? If you object, what have you to hide? Geoff Hall, Croydon

Reader says digital ID cards deserve a referendum

The Swiss have just held a referendum on ID cards – narrowly approving a plan to introduce voluntary electronic ones – so why can’t the UK? Notwithstanding that digital ID cards were not a twinkle in the eye of the Labour manifesto, I don’t see how they will solve any of the problems with illegal immigration.

We already have checks and balances to ensure employers act honestly. It seems somewhat dubious that these are not being applied consistently.

Digital ID cards will be ignored and, once again, the taxpayer will have paid enormously for the ‘privilege’ of such a system. We already have passports and driving licences – we don’t need yet another form of ID.

Labour must be very clear about the data. Who would hold it and how would it be kept secure? Would it be sold to marketing firms to allow advertisers to target us?

What other ‘clever’ use cases has the government got planned? Steven, London

This reader says the government should hold a referendum over digital IDs, as done in Switzerland (Credits: Getty Images)