Speeches by Simons.

“I am glad the hon. Member is smiling about the potential new colleague she may obtain in the coming days. We on the Labour Benches have a proud history of building public goods that help us to serve people better: the NHS, social housing, the welfare state. This piece of digital infrastructure will serve working people…”

“I think the hon. Gentleman was lost for a moment there as he was contemplating the implosion of his shadow Cabinet once again, which I can wholly understand. Details of how the scheme will be used will come after the consultation. I invite him to tell us, in the consultation, how he thinks it could be useful for him to…”

“We absolutely will outline those benefits. I would just underscore that countries all over the world have introduced a digital ID scheme to better join up public services. In India, that has saved an estimated $10 billion every single year; those are savings that this country deserves and wants, and that is what we wil…”

“I wholeheartedly agree. Toughening up our illegal labour market enforcement regime, and using digital right-to-work checks to do that, is a vital part of delivering this Government’s central priority to crack down on illegal migration.”

“I commend my hon. Friend for the public meeting she held—my constituents reported back that it was a robust but constructive conversation, which, as she knows, conversations always are in Wigan—and I can set out the wider benefits. When someone has a baby, they should be able to access the childcare they need without h…”

“The digital ID scheme and toughening up illegal labour market enforcement are part of a suite of measures that this Government are delivering to crack down on illegal migration. Other measures include, for example, extending right-to-work checks to cover businesses hiring in the gig economy and zero-hours workers in co…”

“Digitising right-to-work checks means two things. First, it will be easier for businesses to check people’s right to work and for citizens to prove their right to work, adding simplicity to the system and taking away the paper-based documents that can often open the way for fraud. Secondly, and crucially, it will allow…”

“I can confirm three things in response to the different elements of the hon. Lady’s question. First, she mentions consent. The system itself will be based on consent; it will ask people for their consent in how their data is shared and used, and she will see more about that in the coming weeks. Secondly, there will be …”

“I think I understood the hon. Member’s question, so let me have a crack at answering it. I will address the second part of her question first. The constituents who email her, who will find this scheme useful, are asking for more joined-up public services. They are asking not to have to fight the Government to get thing…”

“I can assure my hon. Friend that the consultation will involve going right across the country to the places where people live, to listen, to engage and to build a consensus on the scheme’s design. I should also underscore that the status quo is that we are not making enough effort to reach people who are digitally excl…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend that it is vital that people trust any digital product and system that this Government build. Trust has to be at the heart of everything we do. We will put trust at the heart of the consultation that will be published in a few weeks, and we will explain more about how we will do that. To be …”

“Let me restate for the hon. Gentleman the argument that connects digital ID to small boat crossings. We are using digital right-to-work checks, which will enable an audit of where those checks have happened, so that we can toughen up our enforcement against illegal working. That will bring this country in line with int…”

“The hon. Gentleman talks about flapping in the wind. He might have noticed that one person will be flapping in the wind: the shadow Justice Secretary, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), who I believe has just been sacked by the Leader of the Opposition for secret plots to defect to another Opposition pa…”

“I, for one, want to hear from people before key digital products are designed. Good product design is based on what is useful for people, which is why we will have a major consultation in coming weeks, in which we will get out across the country, engage with people, and get them engaging with digital government. That w…”

“I will feed those comments back to the relevant Secretary of State.”

“The digital ID database will be based on the principle of data minimisation. The minimum possible data that the Government already have will be stored about every individual citizen, so that we can do what we need to do, which is join up public services better.”

“I too believe in freedom. Any good digital system must be trusted; if it is not trusted, it does not work. That point will be at the heart of the consultation that we will publish in a few weeks. The system that we build will give citizens more control and information about how their data is used and who accesses it. I…”

“I am delighted that the hon. Member is so pleased with gov.uk. I am sure that he will be equally delighted when we roll out the simple, easy-to-use and effective digital ID, which will help him to access a whole range of public services through gov.uk that he cannot currently access. In the coming weeks, we will show h…”

“I thank my fellow Greater Manchester MP for that question. My constituents also want easier access to public services, and they are fed up with having to fight a system that should be working harder for them. That is what this scheme is about—making Government work better for ordinary people. I can confirm that the rol…”

“Digital ID cards will be rolled out by the end of this Parliament, and will be free to everyone who wants one. The Prime Minister was clear that this is a basis for transforming public services, joining up government and making government work better. That is exactly what we are about—building public services that ordi…”