GB News halts for breaking news as Keir Starmer slammed by own party

GB News cut into programming after Sir Keir Starmer was rocked by a dramatic backlash from his own MPs over plans to introduce digital ID cards. The Prime Minister unveiled proposals for a new "Brit card" that would verify people's right to live and work in the UK, a scheme he says is essential to crack down on illegal immigration and stop workers being exploited in the black economy.

But the announcement immediately triggered infighting on the Labour benches, with senior MPs lining up to condemn the move as authoritarian, unworkable and even "dystopian." Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South, said: "This is what happens when you outsource your policy programme to the Tony Blair Institute, corporates and tech billionaires. Any trade unions, civil society organisations and campaign groups opposing this dystopian mess, count me in." Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, piled on the pressure.

She said: "If we're going to reheat Blair-era policies, can we please focus on lifting children out of poverty? Instead of this divisive, authoritarian nonsense."

The criticism extended beyond Labour's backbenches. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, branded the scheme "excessive state interference" and warned: "It must be resisted."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage made a GB News appearance to attack the policy, claiming it would give the state alarming new powers.

"The benefits are clear. The state can control every single aspect of your life," he said, describing the "endless possibilities" of surveillance through digital IDs.

Writing on social media, he added: "It will make no difference to illegal immigration, but it will be used to control and penalise the rest of us. The state should never have this much power."

Green MP Sian Berry also issued a sharp reminder of history.

He slammed: "After being used in WW2, compulsory ID cards were abolished in 1952 because of the widespread sentiment that they were fundamentally at odds with British values and civil liberties. That was true then, and it's true now."

Despite the furious reaction, Keir stood firm. Speaking at a London conference, he insisted: "You will not be able to work in the UK if you don't have a digital ID, it's as simple as that.

"It will make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure."

The Prime Minister later doubled down in an article for The Daily Telegraph, saying it was "essential" to tackle "every aspect of the problem of illegal immigration."

He admitted Labour had "shied away" from the issue in the past but said the new scheme would "offer ordinary citizens countless benefits," from accessing childcare to applying for driving licences.