Vaccine Passports a ‘Trojan Horse for Identity Card System’, Says Tory MP

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Protesters confront a police line outside the House of Commons
Martin Pope/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

Lockdown sceptic Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne had warned that vaccine passports for nightclubs predominantly geared towards young people would be the “Trojan Horse for an identity card system”.

Mr Swayne had said that the introduction of vaccine passports for nightclubs, in a move to coerce young people to be vaccinated, should be a matter that concerns everyone, as the requirements could quickly roll out to include entry to venues that others frequent.

“People see this as an imposition on young people who would want to go to nightclubs, so they think, ‘Oh, well, it’s only them.’ This is an imposition on us all,” Sir Desmond told talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer on Monday.

Warning the coming of the “show me your papers” society, Swayne noted that “for the first time, for most of our population they will be required to produce some form of proof of vaccination status to go about their lawful business. It is the Trojan Horse for an identity card system. Once you bring in requirements of this sort, they’re very, very difficult to remove.”

The Liberal Democrats have likewise warned that domestic passports would be “identity cards by the back door”. However, with only a dozen Lib Dems in the House of Commons and only 50 Tory rebels so far planning to vote against the government on the matter in September, much rests on Labour to stop the introduction of medical IDs in Britain by Boris Johnson’s large majority government. But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has so far suggested that he may back the measures and even demand testing as an additional hurdle for people to enter large venues like sports stadiums.

Other Conservatives opposed to the illiberal measures include Andrew Bridgen, who called their possible introduction a “very authoritarian step”.

“It’s a horrendous situation. I’d been deeply uncomfortable with a lot of the things the government has claimed we’ve had to do, the freedoms we’ve taken away during the pandemic. Now that we seem to be coming out of it, to be going for vaccine passports, domestically, smacks of East European or East German oppression,” Mr Bridgen said on Monday, amidst mounting pressing for Prime Minister Johnson to recall parliament to debate domestic vaccine passes.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the holder of a senior position as Leader of the House of Commons, broke with the Johnson administration to call domestic vaccine passports unBritish.

Speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Any Questions, Mr Rees-Mogg said in comments reported by the Daily Mail: “We have an ancient right to go about our lawful business without being expected to prove who we are or what we’re doing to anybody… we should protect our ancient freedoms very carefully.”

‘”We don’t want to get into a society where routinely people are expected to show their papers,” Mr Rees-Mogg said, adding: “That is not a British way to behave.”

Boris Johnson has been targeting young people for vaccination, last month declaring that from late September, vaccination will be required to enter nightclubs, later signalling similar barriers could be put up for travel or festivals.

Reports also suggested that Johnson was considering making vaccination mandatory for university students — plans that the government apparently was forced to abandon, with the Department for Education announcing last weekend that “the government currently has no plans to require the use of the NHS Covid pass for access to learning”.

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