Govt intends to press on with vaccine passport plans for nightclubs

31 August 2021, 23:28

Downing Street has confirmed it intends to press on with plans to introduce vaccine passports for nightclubs from the end of September.

The scheme would see members of the public required to show proof of their vaccine status to gain entry to domestic venues and events, and has previously been met with criticism from politicians on both sides as well as leaders in the night time hospitality industry.

But on Tuesday the Prime Minister's official spokesman said the Government's plans remained in place.

"We set out broadly our intention to require our vaccination for nightclubs and some other settings and we'll be coming forward in the coming weeks with details for that," he said.

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But Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said his party would oppose the scheme, while Labour previously called it "costly, open to fraud and... impractical".

"As predicted the Government has reheated their Covid ID card scheme," Mr Davey wrote on Twitter.

"They are divisive, unworkable and expensive and the Liberal Democrats will oppose them."

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It comes as new data showed some people would be more reluctant to be vaccinated if such passports were introduced.

Analysis was conducted of 16,527 people, 14,543 of whom had not yet had both vaccine doses.

Almost 90 per cent of this group said their decision to receive a second dose would not be affected by the introduction of the passport scheme.

Two thirds of the remaining 12.2 per cent suggested they would be less likely to get vaccinated if passports were introduced.

The remaining third said they would be more inclined.

The study's lead author, Dr Alex de Figueiredo from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said these percentages become significant when scaled up to the whole population, according to The Guardian, where the data was reported.

Boris Johnson also previously faced a backlash within his own party over the possibility of domestic vaccine passports, with 43 Conservative MPs signing a declaration opposing them.