The Government has recently set out plans to adapt the laws surrounding the use of digital identification. Mr Blair had attempted to bring in an ID scheme before it was eventually scrapped by the coalition Government. The former Prime Minister has even stated the system makes more sense in fighting the effects of coronavirus across the country currently.
With that in mind, Express.co.uk is asking, “Would you be happy for digital ID cards to be enforced in the UK?”
Under the potential new system, members of the public would have an online identity in order to be able to perform daily tasks such as booking a GP appointment.
Mr Blair had attempted to use a similar system following the 9/11 terrorist attack and speaking this week, he insisted the cards could be vital to track the effectivity of vaccine use.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast podcast, Mr Blair said: “You’ll want a record kept by the government of who’s been vaccinated – this will be essential, again, to restoring confidence.
“You don’t need a large amount of information.
“People give a lot more information to their supermarkets than they do to the government.”
According to Mr Blair, this could run in tandem with the current track and trace system employed in the UK.
The former Prime Minister also indicated the card is more suitable for use now, due to the advancement of technology in the last decade.
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“This dangerous plan would normalise identity checks, increase state control over law-abiding citizens and create a honey pot for cybercriminals.”
These fears come amid the constant threat from foreign state actors on the UK.
Indeed, the UK Government has condemned the threat of cyber attacks in July following the controversy surrounding Russian and Chinese state actors attempting to hack Britain’s network.
Russian state actors have been accused of attempting to steal details of the UK’s research and development into a possible vaccine.
Although this was rejected by Moscow, Mr Raab claimed Russian intelligence agencies were engaged in attempting to break into the UK’s research and development efforts.
He told Sky News: “We’re absolutely confident that the Russian intelligence agencies were engaged in a cyberattack on research and development efforts and organisations in this country and internationally with a view either to sabotage or to profit from the R&D that was taking place.
“And I think the point is, first of all, we’ve seen this as part of a wider systematic approach to cyber taken by Russia, and at the time that the world is coming together to try and tackle Covid-19, particularly come up with a global solution for a vaccine, I think it’s outrageous and reprehensible that the Russian government is engaged in this activity.
“So what we’re doing with our allies is making sure people know, making sure the organisations know so that they can better defend against it, but also just calling Russia out, we will do this.”
