MP calls for clarity on vaccine passports
SHADOW health secretary and city MP Jon Ashworth has called on ministers to be clear about plans for vaccine passports.
He said a government paper published on Monday permits shops and pubs to ask whether someone has been vaccinated as a condition of entry.
“The government need to clear this up because they’re creating confusion,” he told Sky News.
“I do think it is discriminatory to say to somebody here in Leicester that you cannot go into Next or H&M unless you produce your vaccination status on an app, unless you produce that digital ID card.
“I don’t think that is fair. Now if ministers are saying that is not what the policy is, then they have to explain why does the policy document they produced last night permit that scenario?
“So, there’s a lot of confusion out there. I just want ministers to be honest and straight with us and tell us exactly what their policy proposals are.”
He also said people should be offered “proper decent sick pay and support to isolate” to help prevent a third Covid-19 wave.
He told Sky News: “The Sage modelling, those government scientists, are modelling a potential third wave this summer with an extra 16,000 deaths.
“I don’t think we should just glibly accept that.
“What we need to do now is take further measures to ensure we avoid that scenario.
“The most important measure we could take is offering people proper decent sick pay and support to isolate themselves if they are a contact, or if they are ill.”
Ministers have ruled out bringing in certification for either the April 12 or May 17 stages of the road map but the documents – either in paper form or on an NHS app – could be introduced later this year.