Channel Islands eligible for UK digital ID scheme

Digital ID cards could come to Jersey and Guernsey if the islands’ governments want them, a minister in Westminster has confirmed.

In September, the UK government announced plans to have digital ID cards which would be compulsory for anyone aged 16 and over who wanted to work in the UK.

Sir John Hayes, Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings in Lincolnshire, asked the government if the proposals would be extended to the Channel Islands.

Digital Government and Data Minister Ian Murray said Jersey and Guernsey were eligible for the scheme but introducing them locally would be up to the islands’ governments.

Responding to Hayes, the minister said: “The British Nationality Act 1981 confers British citizenship on individuals with close connections to the United Kingdom.

“Holders of passports issued in the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey are full British citizens and so will be eligible for the new digital ID.

“As self-governing jurisdictions, it will be for the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey governments to determine whether any future legislation on digital ID should be extended to their jurisdictions.”