India, Jan. 15 -- The British Government has watered down plans for mandatory digital identification cards, a contentious idea it had touted as a way to help control immigration. It's the latest policy U-turn by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's embattled centre-left Government, which is under fire from both opposition politicians and governing Labour Party lawmakers.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that it won't be compulsory for citizens and residents to show a digital ID card in order to get a job, ditching a key plank of the policy announced in September. "The digital ID could be one way you prove your eligibility to work," Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the BBC, alongside other documents such as biometric passports.

The Gove...