Boris Johnson faces a potential major rebellion over Covid vaccine passports from his own MPs.
More than 40 Conservatives have signed a declaration by campaign group Big Brother Watch saying they are opposed to using “Covid status certification to deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs”.
And the Guardian newspaper reports that more MPs from the governing party are privately minded to vote against the plan.
It comes as the prime minister quickly U-turned on his pledge to irreversibly lift all legal Covid restrictions on Monday.
Downing Street is now pushing for vaccine passports to be required for nightclubs from September – amid fears that allowing large numbers of unvaccinated people to dance in an enclosed space could spread the virus.
With a government majority of 80 it would take a vast Tory rebellion to sink any proposals – though even unsuccessful major opposition could be embarrassing for the PM.
But even if Conservative MPs do line up against the proposals, the prime minister’s plan could yet be saved by Labour, which is undecided on which way to vote on the issue.
Keir Starmer has previously said Covid certificates would be against “British instinct” but the party is yet to commit to voting against the plan.
But some of Sir Keir’s top team reportedly believe the situation has change since he made this assessment, with a rising number of cases as restrictions are lifted.
Ministers have hinted that the passports, currently mooted for clubs and large ticketed events, could be further extended to other services. Business minister Paul Scully said the government was not “ruling anything out”.
Asked if the scheme could be extended to venues such as theatres and cinemas, he said: “We’re not ruling anything out. We’ll work through the detail, but what we want to do is give fair warning now, so that we can work through the detail with operators over the next few weeks.”
