The three unionist parties oppose it as strenuously as do Alliance, SDLP and Sinn Fein. So Keir Starmer has been told that Northern Ireland will not accept it, under any circumstances.
Can unionists not see where this might lead? To Sir Keir pressing ahead in Great Britain and carving out an exception for NI. Yes, another border in the Irish Sea.
Neither the Ulster Unionist statement yesterday, which was issued in no-one’s name, and which said “we will oppose this at every turn,” nor the DUP leader Gavin Robinson’s statement, which said the party “will firmly oppose” the plans, mentioned this obvious and massive risk.
They could have said at the top of their press releases that the most important thing is that the scheme is either implemented across the UK or else not in any part of it.
Now nationalists are calling the idea Brit Cards. We know that even the Tories will not properly stand up to nationalist grievances, and Labour will never do so.
This happened over the Legacy Act. While it was perfectly reasonable for unionists to express contempt for the idea of a conditional amnesty, Labour and the Irish government seized on the cross-party opposition to implement an anti-security forces, Irish nationalist approach to legacy.
And it could happen over leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, something I believe the UK must leave. But unionists need to be preparing now arguments against the claims that Northern Ireland cannot leave.
Also: are digital IDs so bad?
I am not a particular fan of the idea but the reach of digital information and its ability to cross-reference data and its power is already huge, as I was reminded this very week when I processed an online authorisation form.
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