I do keep up with the news, but sparkz seemed to be blissfully unaware of the existence of government issued ID cards in the UK. (How do you interpret "surely thoese are only issused to people with a profession like a dr or university students"?)
There have been a number of schemes, but they have ALWAYS been aimed at certain target groups. There has NEVER been a GENERAL ID card scheme. Unless you are in one of the target groups, you may not have heard of such schemes.
The most well known scheme is for people under 25 to be able to show ID in shops & bars to prove they are old enough to buy age restricted products. This scheme has NOT been marketed to adults over 25.
There were some voluntary trials for the intended ID card, but now that the decision has been made to scrap the scheme altogether, these trials will end.
The casino MUST be lying in saying "this has never been an issue before". probably what they mean is that they have never PAID under these circumstances before, thus ripping off innocent players, as well as stopping frauds.
MOST players will use their drivers licence card as a proxy "government issued ID", although in many cases players will STILL have the old paper drivers licence. The government have decided it is too costly to update everybody to a photo card version, and only do so when drivers get a new licence for any reason.
The ONLY reason I now have a photo licence is that for a while my licence was "medical - restricted", so when this status was first applied I had to surrender my paper licence (valid till I am 70, another 21 years), and got a 3 year photo licence in it's place. This was pretty damn fortunate, otherwise I too would be in the same position as the OP.
For someone who doesn't drive, they have no access to a photo card licence (in other words, government issued ID) unless they commit a criminal offense by lying to the DVLA to get one (such as applying for a provisional, even though medically unfit to drive).
Many older people get to the stage where they decide to give up driving. There is no "official" facility to retain the licence as an ID document, you are supposed to surrender it. People too old to drive are NOT necessarily too old to gamble online.
The ONLY general scheme that exists now is "validateuk.co.uk". HOWEVER, again it is a "proof of age" card, rather than an ID card. It shows a photo of the older, and printed next to it is nothing more than their DOB and "ADULT over 18" indicating the category of card issued.
This is now the ONLY general "government issued ID" card that EVERYBODY is allowed to apply for, even if NOT in a "special category". It costs £10 (£20 if you want the express 5 day service), and it can be applied for by POST.
The passport has now to be applied for IN PERSON, and costs up to £100. This is not a viable option for sparkz (and others like him) given his situation, and remote location.
Other cards are NOT available to everyone, and these include such things as pensioner bus passes, cards to prove eligibilty to receive certain services free or at a discount, "disabled" passes (such as the "blue badge" scheme for disabled drivers). There are also cards that LOOK like official "government issued ID cards", but they are NOT. These are issued by workplaces where security is a concern, such as Ministry of Defence offices, armed forces, and industries vulnerable to "spies".
Other "ID cards" are available, but they are bought over the internet, and are intended to allow people to pass themselves off as something they are not, rather than protect the system from fraud.
In the absence of an official UK government ID card, we have many different cards acting as a proxy for an ID, making it easy to get past the checks if you are prepared to be a little "creative", yet the HONEST who are NOT prepared to do this are left with these problems to contend with.
The casino in this case has not appreciated that whilst they have received suitable ID from UK players, it does NOT mean that EVERYBODY is routinely issued with such a card, UNLIKE many other countries. They CANNOT take it upon themselves to decide that "the Uk MUST do it" simply because most other countries have gone down the universal ID card route. The BIG problem is that players only find out they even HAVE this problem when they withdraw, and find that NOTHING they have been issued by ANY government organisation will do, with there being no obvious way to get hold of other documents that might work.