Original article (in Albanian) was published on 04/11/2025; Author: Patris Pustina
An article published by the portal Patriotik Media on October 27, 2025 claims that the British government “of Keir Starmer imposes digital identity with a fee for those who refuse.”
The Government of the United Kingdom announced plans to introduce a digital identification document in September 2025.
The article quotes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as saying: “It will not be mandatory, but anyone who does not wish to use digital identification can continue with physical documents, paying 85 pounds if that is their preference.”
This quote corresponds to a video published on Facebook by The Paper. However, neither that post nor an article about Starmer’s trip to Brighton claims that those who refuse digital ID would have to pay the 85-pound fee.
The Prime Minister’s office shared footage with Reuters showing Starmer interacting with journalists. It began with Starmer recalling the experience of a couple he had spoken to earlier, who, when buying a house, had paid for their identity to be verified for a mortgage application.
“Their advisors had subcontracted the digital checks to a private company, so she and her husband had to pay 85 pounds each to verify who they were,” Starmer said in the 13-minute video. “So, it cost them 170 pounds to check their identity. Digital identity on their phone would have removed all that hassle.”
When announcing the digital identity policy, Starmer said it would only be mandatory for those who needed to verify their right to work in the UK.
So, Starmer did not claim that people without a digital ID card would have to pay an 85-pound fee for refusing it.
He was referring to a case he had mentioned earlier, where two individuals each paid this amount to a private company to prove their identity when buying a house. He noted that the planned digital ID card would have spared them this expense, not that everyone would have to pay.
