Welsh flag push for new UK digital ID system

Wales’ first minister has called for digital IDs to include the Welsh flag as the UK government prepares to roll out a new identification system.

Eluned Morgan said: “That is something that I’m definitely going to be pushing with the UK government.”

Currently, passports and driving licences do not carry the Welsh flag, though driving licences in Wales are bilingual. Morgan revealed that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar MSP is also campaigning to have the Scotland flag represented on digital IDs for Scottish people.

The Westminster government announced plans last week to introduce digital ID cards across the UK, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying it will ensure the country’s “borders are more secure”. All adults working in the UK will require a digital ID card stored on smartphones, including details such as name, residency status, date of birth, nationality and a photo.

The scheme, designed to crack down on illegal immigration by making it harder for people without status to find jobs, will be rolled out before the next UK general election (no later than August 2029). It will not be compulsory to carry ID on a day-to-day basis.

Meanwhile, Morgan warned that Starmer needs to provide more funding for Wales if he is to be a “help rather than a hinderance” to Welsh Labour at next year’s Senedd elections. Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, she acknowledged Welsh Labour faces “a genuine threat” to its time in government, with recent polls placing the party third behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.