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Tony Blair has revived his former government’s failed policy of ID cards in a digital form to tackle the challenges the world is facing on immigration, health and taxes.
Writing for The Daily Mail, the former prime minister claimed that the lesson of Donald Trump’s victory in America is that “any politician today, who is promising management of the status quo and not fundamental change of it, will lose.”
Sir Tony noted: “Our taxes are high; our spending and levels of public debt are high; and our service outcomes are poor. So, we spend more on the NHS than ever before, with more staff than ever before – and the service is coming apart at the seams.”
He insisted that the UK and other countries he works with through the Tony Blair Institute need to adopt a radical new approach for the future by embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and digital ID.
Outlinging a vision for the future, he said: “Lower taxes, reduced spending and improved outcomes have often seemed like the Holy Grail of governing: desirable but impossible. Modern technology puts it within reach.
“Our present system isn’t working. This is a time for shaking up. For once-in-a-generation disruption. Digital ID is a good place to start.”
Reflecting back on his own time as prime minister when the financial crisis was about to strike in 2007 and 2008, Sir Tony said: “There is one tool available today which wasn’t available back in 2007. We’re living through a 21st-century technological revolution every bit as dramatic in its effects, if not more so, as the 18th-century industrial revolution.”
The former prime minister pointed out that the biggest companies in the world are already tech giants.
He wrote: “Think about how we live and interact with each other – how we use Amazon to shop; mobile phones for banking; Google Maps for directions; apps to watch TV, consume news, and book trains, flights, holidays and entertainment. And they all use our data to personalise their service.
“Why is TikTok so successful? Because its algorithms establish your personal preferences so quickly and satisfy them with their content. How do they do that? By accumulating your data and using the services of a huge number of computer engineers to make those algorithms so effective.”
Arguing for digital ID he admitted that the idea of it is “scary”.
But he went on: “Imagine that all your health information was in one place: easy, with your permission, for anyone anywhere in the health service to see. That your passport, driving licence, anything you need to prove your identity, were in one simple digital wallet, unique to you. That you could purchase and pay for any goods or services using your Digital ID.
“Countries from Singapore to India to the UAE and Estonia are doing this now – with huge amounts of time and bureaucracy saved.
But now think of all the other problems of governing. One of the biggest challenges in immigration is the number of people here without permission, since there are multiple ways of entering Britain lawfully but then staying unlawfully.”
“It would allow us to track those without permission and incentivise people to not enter unlawfully or overstay, because they know they would be discovered.
He claimed that it would cut benefit fraud; make online fraud far harder; and it would yield for the government the reliable and accurate data needed to make informed policy decisions.
the former prime minister added: “Around the world, governments are moving in this direction. Of the 45 governments we work with, I would estimate that three-quarters of them are embracing some form of digital ID.”
Sir Tony pointed out that the president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, has said it is a top priority for the Bank’s work with leaders.
He added: “It is transforming drug discovery, with a whole raft of new treatments which will give us the chance to shift our healthcare system radically to prevention of disease rather than cure. If we used the potential of facial recognition, data and DNA, we would cut crime rates by not small but game-changing margins. There are interactive education apps now available which could provide personal tutoring for pupils.”
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