I think the worry with ID cards for the non-criminally minded is function creep. The card would be great for proving identity in situations outlined above, although I am 100% sure people will STILL be insisting on paper bank statements from a ‘proper’ bank in the 2040s as well as an ID card…
But I could easily envisage not being able to do a variety of things you can presently do without ID. Like attending A&E, or buying travel tickets.
I think an electronic ID would be good for public services like NHS, education, transport and even voting. It could check residency & tax status so that people not paying tax or receiving benefits would be prevented from using public services e.g. non-doms & ex-pats.
You could easily integrate ID functionality into Driving Licences plus issue Passport cards like they issue in the Republic of Ireland. That would leave a small amount of standalone cards needed for those that don’t drive or travel abroad.
You call it function creep, I call it progress. The government already has all the data it needs to deliver services, the only difference is the ones that depend on us identifying ourselves currently rely on a multitude of different ways to prove you are you (not good).
Also, attending A&E can’t require ID, emergency treatment in Britain is not just free at source, it’s just free. It’s why your dentistry will be free if you need to go to a hospital to have wisdom teeth removed, for example.
Buying travel tickets? I’m also fine with that. That’s the normal thing in most countries and is already a thing for airlines, + you need it when you’re booking a hotel too. In fact, ID cards could make this much easier. No more ITSO smart cards, patchwork of other systems; linked to your ID number, you get to go on easily. This is how it works in China, it’s so much easier for Chinese nationals.
They have eID systems too, so forgetting the card at home isn’t an issue.
I’m actually for giving all British nationals access to public services, in reality pretending they’re not entitled to them is a meme; you can move home tomorrow and you’re allowed regardless so might as well formalise it.
Don’t need to, just issue a national ID card that is to EU standards and work out a deal. Now it’s a passport card too
Re: Drivers licences; not everyone can have one, so this really isn’t the place to put it. There’s a reason all EU countries don’t link the two, not everyone drives and not everyone is fit to drive (can’t pass the test OR can’t for medical reasons)
The EU/EEA states use ID cards as EU/EEA law requires that they accept anything that proves FoM rights including things like recently expired Passports - that doesn’t apply to the third countries like the UK.
The EU isn’t going to ‘make a deal’ on every little thing either.
There’s already precedent on countries accepting ID cards that are up to their standards - I don’t know why you think we couldn’t get a deal on a lot of little things. The Swiss have managed to do it and we are a vastly more important country by every metric imaginable. Our GDP is nearly triple the size of EFTA, for example.
There are issues around countries refusing to issue ID cards to people who don’t fall under their expected conditions. For example, France simply refused to issue my OH with a residence card even though we were legimately living there for over five years.
And there’s those of us with effectively two (or more) identities because we’ve more than one nationality. A friend was deported twice from America as he overstayed his visa on each of his passports. America doesn’t recognise dual nationality and nor does China as per the example someone gave earlier. In fact, you can be arrested in some countries if they find you have more than one passport.
Finally, I think you’ll find that most Irish are less than impressed by their passport card as it’s not provided automatically, is only valid for five years, and only accepted in a small number of countries.
On a plus point, the NI Electoral Card is acceptable ID in the UK and I’ve recently found that they take it in Australia too.
Britain is the country of 3000 different nationality standards, we know how to manage any gaps (aside from the ones that come from our system inherently being like it is today). I don’t know about France.
America DOES recognise dual nationality, as can be verified with the first .gov page that comes up where it says “America does not require citizens of other countries to choose”. They do however require citizens to use their American nationality on entry and many other countries do this, too. Britain is probably one of the only ones who don’t (at least if you have a Right of Abode endorsement).
China doesn’t recognise it, but also doesn’t go to insane lengths to police Chinese nationals with dual nationality; same with Japan. Yes, some countries are stricter but this isn’t relevant to British nationals because we can get Right of Abode endorsements that show that we aren’t subject to immigration restrictions or any permission to live in Britain, without being evidence of nationality.
Okay, I never said to implement their bad system as our own. Normally we look at things and make them better; Irish Passport cards have several flaws: accepted in EU/some other countries only, linked to passport, limited validity even if you were to get it later (for example it will expire in 2y if your passport only has 2y left).
AU/NZ/CA are probably places where we could get some mutual recognition, even if they don’t want us to get visa free access.
The Swiss are part of Schengen and have freedom of movement with the EU/EEA states.
Little England only accepts ID cards from those with reserved Pre-Brexit rights and can refuse to take even some of those after 2025.
The facts simply don’t back up your viewpoint.
Ahem. So how do you get official statements from NatWest?
I phrased that wrong. Their system operates on the basis of each passport being a different person. So, when my friend was deported for overstaying on their British passport, he was able to return straight away on his Irish passport when as ‘British friend’ he couldn’t.
I suspect you probably can’t unless you change to paper statements and wait until one turns up. Even that is a bit iffy as their genuine paper statements look like something you’ve run up when you’ve 20 minutes to spare. I get paper statements as I know I’ll need them in due course for a visa application (see, it’s all related 
).
Oddly if you just print off your digital statements, there should be no physical difference. They don’t use the older still statements with the non A4 layout.
But I can understand not wanting to risk anything with visa applications
Yes, the statements in the app are ‘official’ statements, they should be exactly what you get if you get paper statements even down to the info box telling you how switching to paperless statements cuts down on clutter
Print them off and there’s zero difference between your printed statement and what you get through the door except a fold and maybe paper thickness
Plus, according to an insider on t’other forum, a little code that identifies it as a statement printed by the bank.
The Swiss have individual agreements for basically everything, is the point I’m getting at. They are in EFTA, not the EEA or the EU.
“Little England” is also quite funny - you’re free to leave, you know? No one is keeping you locked away in a shed. Also, there’s no reason we’d agree for recognition of ID cards if we don’t ourselves have ID cards and we don’t ourselves want them to be reciprocated. You’re arguing with ghosts, is what I’m getting at. You take this situation I proposed could potentially exist and then said “that’s not right now” like that’s relevant. Yes, we will stop acknowledging ID cards. What about it? We don’t have any ID cards so there’s no reason to negotiate about mutual recognition.
This is silly, because I didn’t present any facts besides Switzerland being able to enter into bespoke agreements, which is true. We can also do that.
I feel like they just don’t actively link the two. I don’t think you’d get away with a crime you committed on your Irish passport because you reentered on your British one.
Depends on the level of the crime I suspect. Overstaying your visa is a crime. I’d like to think you couldn’t murder someone having entered on your British passport and then pop in again on your Irish one, but if they don’t identify you as the same person I suspect that you could.
A solicitor isn’t looking up codes. I’ve seen some bizarre things from solicitors but none of it is ever based on anything objectively useful. Digital statements are official.
As for NatWest to get a statement printed and posted to you you ask in app and they send you one. Maybe it comes with some tracking markings but these don’t make it ‘official’ they’re functionality identical to your digital statements
I’m sure they are fine in the UK for most/all things. Year before last I was hiring a car in Germany and they would only accept statements or bills that had been posted to me: none of this online nonsense for them Net effect was that I went elsewhere as I’d nothing actually posted to me, though how they’d have told the difference I don’t know.
I suspect the difference would be if they see a crease in the paper or not 
Posted statements have a lot of information printed on the back, such as contact details, adverts for mobile banking, interest rates, how to protect yourself from fraud, details of the FSC scheme etc. Lloyds’ statements are full of the stuff. Credit card statements will also have instructions on how to pay the bill.
If you’re presented with statements printed on one side of the paper only, you know for certain they’ve been printed off the internet. Not many people have home printers capable of double sided printing.
Why are you saying we? I thought you were a Rusky?
I’d need to go to Little England to leave it ; unless you count flying over it but that’s more en-route to Sunnier locales with my non-Brexit Passport 