Cabinet revolt over vaccine passports

Boris Johnson is facing a cabinet revolt over vaccine passports, having been accused of denying people their fundamental freedoms.

The Prime Minister announced this month that certificates proving double jabs will be needed to enter indoor venues such as nightclubs from September.

Government advisers have raised concerns that such environments are conducive to ‘super spreading’ and could see a huge spike of cases later in the year.

But it sparked a huge backlash, with more than 50 Tory MPs prepared to vote against the ‘misguided plan’. 

Now Mr Johnson is facing a fresh headache, with some of the opposition reported to be coming from ministers in his own cabinet, who believe the policy was ‘railroaded’ through by Michael Gove.

One told the Times: ‘I’m not comfortable with the government being able to use health information to cut off access to certain parts of society.

‘This is the kind of thing that Dominic Cummings would endorse. It’s not who we are. Once you start doing these things where do you stop? We need to tread very carefully here. There are concerns across the cabinet about denying people their freedoms.’

Boris Johnson is facing a cabinet revolt over vaccine passports, having been accused of denying people their fundamental freedoms

The Prime Minister announced this week that certificates proving double jabs will be needed to enter indoor venues such as nightclubs from September

Another added: ‘My concern is that this is destabilising the party. A carrot approach is far better than a stick approach. We shouldn’t be taking people’s liberties away, we should be encouraging them.’

Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps are among the senior members of the cabinet to praise businesses who have not allowed unvaccinated staff to return to the office, amid concerns the government is encouraging a ‘jabs for jobs’ policy.

Experts have warned companies doing so may face legal action, with fears of a host of discrimination claims sparking calls for ministers to outlaw such policies. 

A worker who is forced to have a jab would be suffering an ‘intrusion’ on their body, advice from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development claims.

As a result, firms ‘cannot forcibly vaccinate employees or potential employees’ unless legally required to do so, according to the group, which represents HR professionals.

Care home staff is the only sector that so far is subject to mandatory Covid jabs, although reports suggest the government has been looking in other areas too. 

The PM has had to scrap proposed rules insisting that university students must have had jabs before attending lectures and halls of residents after questions over its legality were raised by education secretary Gavin Williamson, the Times reports.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also advised against blanket ‘no jab no job’ policies, according to the Sun, particularly given medical reasons prevent some people from getting the vaccine.

But huge firms in the US, including Facebook and Google, have already insisted employees must probe they’ve received doses before going back to work. 

Meanwhile, Damian Collins, former chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said those who had chosen not to get vaccinated could not expect ‘to be treated in the same way’ as those who had.

The Conservative MP told Times Radio: ‘We don’t force anyone to have a vaccine in this country, it is up to their individual choice.

‘But at the same time, it might be unreasonable for someone who has decided not to get vaccinated to expect to be treated in the same way as someone who has been vaccinated twice.’

He added: ‘I think we need to look venue-by-venue at the practicalities of introducing that but I can see certain venue owners, who are putting on large and major events for which they themselves may be trying to get insurance in order to protect their investment in those events, it may well be this is something those venues actively want to encourage so they’ve got that extra level of certainty.

‘I don’t think in that situation the Government should try and stop people doing that – that may be something the venues themselves want.

‘I think we have to look at this very seriously, we have to look at what the vaccination rates are like by that time and if the double vaccination rates are high enough, it may not be necessary, but I do think this is something that has to be looked at seriously.’

The revolt comes just days after the government was accused of introducing passports by stealth after the NHS App was updated with ‘domestic’ and ‘travel’ options for Britons to prove their vaccination status.

It emerged this week that the government has signed a 12-month contract with a company to provide Covid passport technology. The contract with Entrust raises concerns about how long Britons will be forced to have the pass on their phones. 

Mr Raab said it was a ‘smart policy’ for companies to insist employees are double-jabbed before they can return to offices. 

But one senior Tory MP said there is ‘almost universal objection’ in the party to the plans, with South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay branding the passports a ‘massive change to the relationship between the state and the individual’ that would be a ‘very dangerous step.’