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12.04pm BST
Conservative grandee Sir David Lidington, who was de facto deputy prime minister under Theresa May, said introducing domestic vaccine passports would set a “dangerous precedent”.
The former MP told Times Radio:
I’m much more cautious about the Government laying down a law that people should actually have access to particular events in civil society only if they’ve got some sort of government certificate of approval.
I think that’s a pretty dangerous precedent and it also raises all sorts of really difficult practical problems about implementation.
I’d like to see the government working out who it is that the young people, the audience they’re targeting, listen to that – is it sports stars, is it bands, is it YouTube influencers? – but try to enlist the support of the people that the young people who you’re trying to reach themselves trust and want to hear from.
11.43am BST
As cases of the Delta coronavirus variant have risen and vaccination rates slowed, several US businesses and institutions have announced they will now require vaccinations from employees.
Major companies like Walmart and Disney said this week all employees must be vaccinated, while Joe Biden said all federal employees must be vaccinated or face masking, testing and distancing requirements.
