Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed for the first time the government is looking at digital ID as a way to tackle illegal immigration.

The prime minister said a new identity programme could play an “important part” in reducing the incentive to enter the UK without permission.

The last Labour government started issuing ID cards to UK citizens, but the scheme was scrapped by the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition over privacy concerns.

But Sir Keir said he felt the debate had “moved on in the last 20 years”.

Speaking to political editor Chris Mason, Sir Keir said: “We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did twenty years ago, and I think that psychologically, it plays a different part.”

Asked whether a new scheme could play a role in reducing the attractiveness of the UK as a destination for illegal migrants, he added: “My instinct is it can play an important part. Obviously we need to look through some of the detail.”

He added that, two decades on from the row over New Labour’s physical ID card scheme, the public was likely to “look differently” at a digital-based scheme.

He did not confirm whether any new digital ID scheme would be mandatory.

Employers and landlords have been able to use government-certified digital verification services since 2022 to conduct right to work and right to rent checks on passport-holding British and Irish citizens.

A Home Office online scheme also exists to check the status of some non-British or Irish citizens.

It is understood officials are looking at the potential for a new scheme to provide a more consistent approach to conducting the checks.

They are also thought to be exploring whether the scheme could reduce the use of fake documents and make it easier to target enforcement activity.

Sir Keir’s comments are the most positive remarks yet by the prime minister about the idea, which is likely to reignite a debate over civil liberties.

The government has previously rejected a digital ID proposal suggested by former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, whose government legislated for compulsory identity cards when he was in office.

Around 15,000 were in circulation when the scheme was scrapped by the coalition government in 2011, and the database destroyed.