SIR Keir Starmer has hit out at Covid passport schemes for pubs – and called the idea “un-British”.
The Labour leader said the ‘papers for the pub’ proposal – which could allow bars and big events to abandon social distancing – aren’t the way forward.
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If officials green-light the scheme, the passports could be used to access a range of every-day social activities after the pandemic begins to wane.
But the plans have proved deeply unpopular within the Tory party – and now Sir Keir has taken aim too.
It comes as:
- Police have confiscated beer and closed parks as revellers making the most of relaxed lockdown rules party into the night
- School days could be made longer to help kids catch up on lost lockdown learning, a top minister said
- The UK economy bounced back more strongly than first thought in the last six months of 2020, but was still down 9.8% overall for the year
- Angela Merkel is adamant she’ll have the AstraZeneca Covid jab – as Germany bans it for under-60s over blood clot fears
- France goes into its third national lockdown as cases soar
In an interview with the Telegraph, he said the Government can’t leave it up to pub landlords to decide whether such checks are necessary.
“My instinct is that, as the vaccine is rolled out, as the number of hospital admissions and deaths go down, there will be a British sense that we don’t actually want to go down this road,” he said.
His stance increases the possibility the Government will struggle to find the votes to get such a scheme through the House of Commons.
Both Tory rebels and the Lib Dems oppose the possibility of the documents.
But last week, Boris Johnson said he’s open to the idea of the certificates being used in pubs.
The papers would reveal whether the holder has had a Covid jab, tested negative or has antibodies already.
No final decisions have been made, but the Government is considering allowing such checks to be used at everything from football matches and concerts to business conferences.
Brits will get a steer on what the Government plans on Monday, when the PM is set to provide an update into a review led by Michael Gove.
The UK’s hugely successful jabs roll-out, combined with the strict lockdown which eased this week, mean Covid deaths have plunged by half in just a week.
A further 43 people were recorded to have died yesterday, while 4,052 new cases were recorded.
Sir Keir admitted the PM faces tough decisions on how to lead Brits out of the crisis.
“I think this is really difficult and I’m not going to pretend there’s a clear black and white, yes-no easy answer on this. It is extremely difficult,” he said.
“My instinct is that [if] we get the virus properly under control, the death rates are near zero, hospital admissions very, very low, that the British instinct in those circumstances will be against vaccine passports.”
And he added: “I think this idea that we sort of outsource this to individual landlords is just wrong in principle.”
Pubs spent millions on implementing social distancing measures last year including arrows and space markers on floors and ensuring tables were set out with a two-metre distance between groups.
Outdoor hospitality is due to reopen on April 12.
But the idea of vaccination passports has been deeply unpopular in the industry and among some Tory MPs.
Trade body UKHospitality criticised the prospect of pubs and restaurants being subject to vaccine certificates as “simply unworkable” – and said it could cause conflict between staff and customers.
Meanwhile, Tory MP and backbench chief rebel Steve Baker, who has repeatedly called for lockdown to be eased, warned it could create a “two-tier Britain” for those who are unable to take up the vaccine for medical reasons.
The deputy chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of Conservative lockdown sceptics said: “The Prime Minister began to tread a dangerous path when he opened the door to domestic Covid certificates.”
And Greg Mulholland, chairman of the British Pub Confederation, said: “For the Government to abdicate responsibility and ask pubs to make a moral judgment — it’s just not acceptable.
“On top of having to take on extra staff to serve people at tables, the idea pubs can take on staff to act as door staff for vaccine passports is absurd.”
