City MP voices concern at Covid vaccine passports plan

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow has said ‘he would need convincing’ that ‘COVID vaccine passports’ are a good idea for domestic use after he was one of more than 70 MPs to sign a pledge against them.

Mr Bristow joined Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and peers in signing the pledge.

Signatories include former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MPs Dawn Butler and Rebecca Long Bailey, former director of Liberty, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, and over 40 MPs from the Conservative Covid Recovery Group.

They have been supported by campaign groups Big Brother Watch, Liberty, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and Privacy International.

The pledge states: “We oppose the divisive and discriminatory use of COVID status certification to deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs.”

Speaking to The Peterborough Telegraph, Mr Bristow said: “I fully accept that vaccine passports will be neces

sary for international travel, but we need to be careful. Their widespread use for access to services and businesses would be troubling.

“Our vaccine programme has been a huge success.

“The prime minister deserves a lot of personal credit for the roll out. Getting everyone vaccinated is the obvious way to end Covid restrictions.

“I would need convincing that being asked to show a vaccine certificate to enter a pub or theatre was necessary, workable or desirable.

More than 80,000 people in Peterborough have now been given at least one dose of COVID vaccine.

MP Paul Bristow