Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declared that by the end of this Parliament, every worker in the United Kingdom will be required to hold a state-issued digital ID. Announcing the plan at the Global Progress Action Conference in London, he said:

“Today I am announcing this government will make a new free-of-charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by end of this Parliament. Let me spell it out: you will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have Digital ID. It’s as simple as that.”

Since when did the ability to earn a living become a privilege bestowed by the government? When the United Kingdom stopped recognising Christ as the supreme authority over the nation. If God isn’t restraining the government, the government is free to play god over the people. And that’s exactly what Starmer is doing.

“De-Christianisation” was never about pluralism, tolerance, or diversity. It was about demoting Christianity and elevating the state above Scripture and government above God. And in doing so, rights once understood as God-given—like the right to work—were reduced to state-granted privileges. Without God, there are no God-given rights; just permissions bestowed on us by the state. But what the state gives, it can just as easily take away. And that’s exactly Starmer’s mentality here: “No Digital ID, No Job.”

And yet, denying a man the right to work means denying him the ability to pay mortgage or rent, feed his children, and provide for those who depend on him. It is an assault not just on the man, but on the family and community bound up with his provision. Politicians cannot plead ignorance of the consequences of intentionally driving people into unemployment.

The link between joblessness and suicide is well-documented. A 2015 study in The Lancet Psychiatry found that unemployment is associated with around 45,000 suicides annually worldwide. The researchers also noted that in societies where unemployment is relatively rare, such as in the United Kingdom, the social and psychological toll is even greater.

So when the state ties employment to compliance with its digital identification system, it is quite literally playing with the lives and mental health of its own people.

Many seem to see it for what it is: a massive expansion of state surveillance with little promise of solving the immigration problem. In fact, an online petition opposing the scheme has already crossed 1.7 million signatures, showing just how widespread opposition really is.

But the real issue here is this: if the government can dictate whether you are allowed to work, what else can it control? Access to housing? To medical care? To education? To food? To travel? Once the state positions itself as the gatekeeper of your livelihood, every other aspect of life is up for grabs.

Starmer’s “No Digital ID, No Job” proposal signals the replacement of God-given freedom with state-administered permission. And once the state is enthroned as god, the people will learn quickly how merciless such a false deity can be.