Boris Johnson should not be rushing Covid passport rules through – they need due consideration

Why would anyone take lessons from No 10 on how to act responsibly during a pandemic, after it demonstrated such contempt for the rules?

A negative test is far more relevant for safety than having the vaccine passport itself (Getty/iStock)

The Covid-19 vaccine passport has become something of a “zombie policy” for this government, killed off and then revived whenever it has a moment of panic. It is appropriate, therefore, that its latest iteration comes in the form of a “dead cat”, thrown on the table by Boris Johnson in order to shock and redirect attention away from the lockdown parties held in Downing Street last Christmas.

If the prime minister thinks he can get out of his scandal by distracting us with Covid ID cards, however, he is about to get a rude awakening.

My party will be opposing these illiberal and destructive vaccine passport measures, but I suspect that this will be the final straw for many Tory MPs and others across the House of Commons as well. The government may win the coming parliamentary battle but it is likely to cost Boris Johnson’s last scrap of support on his back benches.

We had a preview of the coming tussle in parliament when Boris Johnson’s own MPs got up during Prime Minister’s Questions to specifically call out the threat of certification as an attempt to distract from his latest scandal. If the government is to have any hope of pushing through the more draconian measures within Plan B then it is likely to have to rely on support from the opposition benches, rather than its own.

After all, Boris Johnson now has no moral authority to impose new regulations himself. Why would anyone take lessons from Downing Street on how they should act responsibly during a pandemic, when they have so amply demonstrated their contempt for the rules? You’d be better off learning festive generosity from Mr Scrooge.

Legitimacy for any new regulations cannot come from the Conservative front bench. Parliament must lead – because the prime minister cannot be trusted.

If the government truly believes that new measures are necessary then it ought to first ditch the divisive Covid ID scheme, and then work cross-party, in parliament, to build some kind of consensus on any changes.

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We know that mask-wearing is a relatively minimal imposition with measurable benefits in reducing the spread. Vaccine passports on the other hand would represent a massive change in the relationship between everyday people and their government, and there is no mandate for their imposition. Both the government and the Labour Party are so desperate to be seen to “do something”, however, they appear to have little interest in whether what they are doing makes sense and fits the problem we are faced with.

Apart from anything else, the passport scheme is a “vaccine or test” system, in which a negative lateral flow test is as valid as being vaccinated. Given that the omicron variant appears to be transmissible between vaccinated people (not that this in any way negates the benefits of vaccination in reducing serious illness) it would appear that a negative test is far more relevant for safety than having the vaccine passport itself.

We know what really works to keep people safe. We need to ramp up booster vaccinations (I had my own last weekend) and information campaigns, and make sure that test and trace is fully functioning. If there are other measures that need to be taken, like expanded mask-wearing, then my party is open to those discussions – but not as a PR exercise to protect the prime minister.

Instead of showing some humility and collegiality, the government appears to be aiming to ram these divisive measures through with a rushed vote and no time for proper consideration. This would be an abuse of the democratic process and an insult to families across the country who are sick of being told to follow rules made by people who have no respect for the rules themselves.

As much as the content of our rules and regulations, the way in which they are developed matters. This is a winter of discontent with the government, in which its disdain for common decency risks corroding faith in the pandemic response. There is still time for ministers to take a different course, but that time is running out.

Alistair Carmichael is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on home affairs, Northern Ireland and constitutional reform – and the party’s MP for Orkney and Shetland