WATCH: Lisa Nandy says Digital ID could open 'gateway to Government services'

Can we clear up a couple of bits about this

Because there's been conflicting reports this morning. Is this going to be a mandatory scheme for all British adults

Yes, all British adults will have a digital ID by the end of this Parliament

but it's not like an ID card scheme where you would be required to carry that around

and show it to access services. the only thing that we will require people to produce a digital ID for

is to work in this country, which we think will have a significant impact in helping us

alongside other measures, to tackle illegal migration. But it changes the default position of the average citizen, doesn't it

It's almost as though we are having to prove that we are legal

in order to prevent the illegals getting work. It doesn't seem very British having to do that

I don't think it does change the default in that it ensures that people who have the right to work can work

and it protects British people from being undercut by a legal market in employment

which, you know, when you've got a million young people who are not in education, employment or training

is obviously having a significant impact on families up and down the country

We're not suggesting for a moment that people will have to continuously carry this card

this digital ID that they have to produce it to access all sorts of services But at the moment we do have to produce ID for lots of things If you have spot checks for example in workplaces

or factories, you can be required to produce ID to prove that you can work. We've all got access

now to things like the NHS app, which has had significant benefits for a lot of UK citizens

So we think there's a really positive element of this to a lot of people across the United Kingdom

but it also will help us to deal with something that's of significant concern to a lot of people

including many of your viewers, and that's illegal migration. Yeah, but a lot of... I mean, every employer will know, as every landlord knows

that if you take on a new tenant, you have to do a right-to-rent check

If you take on a new employee, you have to do a right-to-work check. So that's already available

So, I mean, part of the question is to say, well, why bother changing the dynamics of that

But also, if you are currently not bothered about doing a right-to-work check

and employing someone illegally, that's not going to change with an ID card, is it

Well, no, it's not. Although, if you're not bothered about employing somebody illegally

then you can face unlimited fines and a jail sentence for doing so

and that won't change. But what will change is that we've heard from employers

that it is often quite onerous to be able to do those checks

For example you can require someone to give you the national insurance number but the national insurance number is not linked to any kind of photo ID or other forms of ID And so it very difficult for employers to be absolutely certain that the person that they employing is the person whose national insurance number has been presented We think

this makes it much simpler for employers, we think it's more robust and we think it helps us as part

of a whole suite of measures to tackle the illegal migration that we've seen in record numbers under

the last government. I mean sorry I was just I was just going to say because you said this is only

about getting jobs, which is, you know, it's limited to that. Well, maybe that will alleviate some fears

But even Tony Blair has said, oh, this is very good. It could lead to a gateway to government services

So he's already looking at expanding it. Well, it can lead to a gateway to government services

for people who choose to use it in that way. So just like with the NHS app, which I'm on, many people are on

where you can access your own medical records, can make GP appointments online and order repeat medication

Just as that has been game-changing for people who choose to use it

so could a digital ID for people who want to use it for those services

But we're being clear as a government today, and the Prime Minister will outline this in a speech later today

we're not requiring people to use it for those purposes, but if they want to, and we suspect many people will

it will make their interface and interaction with the state much easier and much more seamless

But frankly, in this country, any government's reputation for cybersecurity, as it were, has never been good

There are all sorts of breaches of data security We seen some recently as well that have stopped the NHS stone dead or airports shut them down We don really trust a government ability

to keep our data secret and safe. So why should we trust you now

Well, we've been looking at the experience of other countries like Estonia, where they've been pioneers in digital ID

and the measures that they've put in place to protect people's data, including really robust encryption services so that if you have a digital ID when you use it

only parts of that ID the parts that need to be shared will be shared but cyber security is a

growing problem as you rightly highlight the issues at Jaguar Land Rover are only the latest

in a whole series of incidents that have affected M&S the British Library and others we're taking

that seriously. We're bringing forward new laws, more robust laws, to protect our cyber security

Every country in the world is dealing with that, but these two things can be done concurrently

And there are problems with offline ID. We've seen a rise in identity theft, people losing

documents and then finding that somebody has stolen their identity and is using it for fraudulent

purposes. If we get this right, and we're determined to do so, having learnt from the

experience of other countries who've done it before us, it should be more secure and

help to keep people's data more secure than the current system of having to carry around

a lot of documents and constantly demonstrate that through different means. OK. Lisa and Andy, we appreciate your time