I hear that kind of sentiment due to the amount of CCTV they have in London specifically & enforcement of the online safety act using the excuse of "it's to protect the kids" with age verification becoming standard when all that's doing is making people bypass all that.
I wonder why most stores prefer "cashless only" under the guise of convenience (kind of makes sense when you understand the ulterior motives) coming at a cost of making cash extinct with the government wanting to conduct espionage on the average joe.
The thing is, with potential digital ID (which is BS by the way) since people can just use the Gattaca card by changing their entire life and identity living under an assumed name and genetic code or just play dead by declaring themselves as deceased (on record).
As in, the individual is "dead" (living as someone else) as cameras can only surveil the living. Even resort to having facial bone structures entirely altered like plastic surgery. Fake ID's are being used to take advantage of AI estimated age verification.
It's not exclusive to Britain unfortunately, as I've heard Australia enforced their own version of the online safety act (known as the under 16 social media ban) over there since December 2025, and that didn't do anything according to the friends I know who reside there. Recently, they added Pornhub to their blacklist (weird, LOL) with age verification but VPN's circumvent the geoblock.