UK Government looks set to follow Wales and introduce Covid passes
Boris Johnson looks set to follow Wales and introduce some form of Covid pass or passports, UK Government sources have said.
A Cabinet meeting this afternoon will discuss moving to ‘Plan B’ measures, including requiring vaccine passports for large venues and an order to work from home.
The Welsh Government, which has already implemented Covid passes for large events, cinemas and theatres, will announce their own new restrictions on Friday. Covid passes for hospitality, including bars and restaurants, are among measures being discussed by Welsh ministers.
The Welsh Conservatives have previously voted against Covid passes in Wales, with Welsh Labour voting for. Plaid Cymru originally voted against, calling for stricter rules, and then voted for.
The fresh restrictions are being considered to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which is already spreading in the community in England. The Welsh Health Minister said yesterday that they were expecting a Omicron peak in Wales in mid-to-late January.
The number of Omicron cases are however considered to be much higher than the official tally as only a small number of tests are checked for variants.
There has also been speculation that the move to Plan B in England would be a ‘dead cat’ to distract from the leaked video of a mock Downing Street press conference showing staff laughing about a No 10 Christmas Party which may have broken Covid restrictions.
Former education secretary Gavin Williamson was also reported to have held a Christmas party in his department last December.
Wales’ First Minister told Politics Wales on Sunday that extending Covid passes were under consideration but he was waiting to learn more about Omicron.
“We’ve got another week to go. We will learn a lot in that week about the Omicron virus,” he said.
“If we were to do it, it would simply be to help those businesses to stay open and still attracting customers through the door because people would feel confident that everybody else in that setting were either vaccinated or had taken a lateral flow test.
“But we haven’t made that decision, and we won’t make that decision right up until the day we have to, because circumstances and knowledge are developing so fast around the new variant that you ought to wait to have the maximum amount of information that you can.”
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Pretty much everything we have done, Police Constable Bojo does, a week or two later…..when its too late & the horse has bolted.
Will be fun to watch the “Welsh” Tories squirm in their dirty underwear!!
“Any Parties around this year chaps?”
The porous border hasn’t helped. Should have been “goods only”, like Japan?
I’m just waiting for a Tory in Wales to congratulate Boris, and then claim that we in Wales only introduced the Covid pass early, to get one up on Westminster, and as a political “stunt”, after hearing it was going to be introduced in England first.