Starmer Lied. The Contracts Prove It.

UK Digital ID "Scrapped"? Starmer's U-Turn Is a Lie. Here's Where £210 Million of Your Money Went.
The government announced they're dropping mandatory digital ID for workers. The media called it a U-turn. A victory. Case closed.
Except they didn't cancel anything. They're still building Gov.uk One Login. Still rolling out Gov.uk Wallet. Still handing hundreds of millions in contracts to Deloitte, Accenture, and private verification companies you've never heard of.
In this video, I follow the money behind Britain's digital ID programme — the £100 million consulting bonanza, the revolving door between Whitehall and contractors, the 500,000 security vulnerabilities nobody fixed, and the international playbook that shows exactly where "optional" digital ID leads.
They told you it was cancelled. Here's the fine print.

📑 SOURCES
The U-Turn Announcement
BBC News — Government drops plans for mandatory digital ID: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3385zrrx73o
Contracts & Spending
Biometric Update — Multimillion pound contracts for One Login: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202303/multimillion-pound-contracts-keep-coming-for-uk-government-digital-services-one-login
UKAuthority — GDS retains Deloitte for mobile app services: https://www.ukauthority.com/articles/gds-retains-deloitte-for-mobile-app-services/
PublicTechnology — GDS signs £10m One Login cyber deal: https://www.publictechnology.net/2025/06/02/business-and-industry/gds-signs-10m-one-login-cyber-deal-and-plans-recertification-after-losing-government-digital-id-trustmark/
Think Digital Partners — GDS awards third contract to Experian: https://www.thinkdigitalpartners.com/news/2023/01/04/gds-awards-third-contract-to-experian-for-governments-new-digital-identity-service/
Security Vulnerabilities
Computer Weekly — Security tests reveal serious vulnerability: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366623991/Security-tests-reveal-serious-vulnerability-in-governments-One-Login-digital-ID-system
Computer Weekly — Government faces claims of serious security problems: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366622533/Government-faces-claims-of-serious-cyber-security-and-data-protection-problems-in-One-Login-digital-ID
Computer Weekly — One Login yet to meet cyber security standards: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366623357/Govuk-One-Login-yet-to-meet-government-cyber-security-standards-for-critical-public-services
Lost Certification
Computer Weekly — One Login loses DIATF certification: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366623835/Govuk-One-Login-loses-certification-for-digital-identity-trust-framework
Revolving Door
The Register — Serco hires former GDS boss Tom Read: https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/serco_appoints_former_gds_leader/
PublicTechnology — GDS founder Mike Bracken joins HMRC: https://www.publictechnology.net/2024/10/07/business-and-industry/gds-founder-mike-bracken-joins-hmrc-boardroom-set-up/
PublicTechnology — Public Digital wins £5m government deal: https://www.publictechnology.net/2025/07/18/business-and-industry/government-picks-public-digital-for-5m-deal-to-help-deliver-public-sector-reform-scheme/
Tony Blair Institute Connection
The Nerve — Digital ID, Keir Starmer and Tony Blair Institute: https://www.thenerve.news/p/digital-id-keir-starmer-tony-blair-institute-larry-ellison-oracle-opposition
The Spectator — Digital IDs are a nightmare of Tony Blair's making: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/digital-ids-are-a-nightmare-of-tony-blairs-making/
Private Verification Industry
Biometric Update — iProov wins biometrics contracts for One Login: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202207/iproov-wins-biometrics-id-document-check-contracts-for-uks-proposed-one-login-program
TechCrunch — Entrust buys Onfido for $650M: https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/06/confirmed-entrust-is-buying-ai-based-id-verification-startup-onfido-sources-say-for-more-than-400m/
India's Aadhaar Precedent
Quartz — How India's Aadhaar became mandatory: https://qz.com/india/1351263/supreme-court-verdict-how-indias-aadhaar-id-became-mandatory
Harvard Business School — Aadhaar: From Voluntary to Mandatory: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52684
Opposition & Privacy Concerns
Big Brother Watch — No2DigitalID Campaign: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/no2digitalid/
Electronic Frontier Foundation — The UK Has It Wrong on Digital ID: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/uk-has-it-wrong-digital-id-heres-why
House of Commons Library — Digital ID in the UK: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10369/
Past Government IT Failures
Computer Weekly — Universal Credit: What went wrong: https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Universal-Credit-what-went-wrong-and-what-we-learned
National Audit Office — The failure of the FiReControl project: https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/the-failure-of-the-firecontrol-project/

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