Vaccine Passport splits UK gov’t as PM Boris insists on signing bill Monday
Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to sign controversial COVID-19 vaccine passports on Monday even as parliamentarians have mount a crossparty opposition to thwart the action.
The PM believes the passport, when assented to, will encourage local businesses to reopen as the it would encourage pubs like cinema and stadiums to reopen as a way of breathing life into the local economy.
But the parliamentarians in London are viewing the idea with a different lens.
Already, 72 cross-party MPs who have joined forces to block the idea which they dubbed the as #CheckPointBritain.
The MPs said the bill is “divisive and discriminatory”.
But ministers in London had faith in the scheme believing it is the only way business venues that can reopen to the public after many months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Boris promise that the vaccine passport will be a temporary measure. He has not fixed a time frame for the scheme; but sources close to his government hinted one year.
An opposition Labour party member, Baroness Chakrabati said the vaccine passport would encroach on fundamental rights moment of citizens at home.
She told BBC Radio 4 that: “it is one thing to have a passport to travel internationally, that is a privilege, or even a luxury, but participating in local community life is a fundamental”
Former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, led in signing against the proposed vaccine passport.
Chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, Emma McClarkin worried that the passports would be an additional burden.
The Prime Minister who had not shown any sign of backing off insisted that the passport could provide maximum confidence to both business and customers as the lockdown eases.
UK has so far recorded 4,359,388 confirmed cases of COVID-19/cases as of Sunday May 4. Of this figure, a total of 126,836 deaths have been recorded, while 3,901,642 infected persons have recovered so far.
