Wetherspoon boss hits out over Covid passports for pubs

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has hit out at suggestions from the Government that vaccine passports could hold the key to the reopening of the hospitality sector.

The plans are being examined by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove but have already been branded  “unworkable, costly and discriminatory” by those in the hospitality sector.

If approved  access to venues would only be granted if customers have been jabbed, received negative tests, or developed antibodies through past infection.

However, writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Martin said: “There is no justification for a passport system.

‘Civil liberties war’

“For many pubs, hanging on for dear life and devastated by G-force changes of direction, a complex and controversial passport scheme would be the last straw.

“It would inevitably put pub staff in the frontline of a bitter civil liberties war, with some customers unwilling to be vaccinated or unable to have a jab for medical reasons.”

After first seemimg coll on the idea, Prime Minisiter Boris Johnson has now said Covid ‘passports’ may be needed to go to the pub.

It is understood a phone app would be used to give people a digital certificate that they could present at venues.

This would probably include a QR code that staff could scan to verify it was genuine, along with a picture of the person’s face. Those who do not have the app would be able to request a paper certificate.

Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann, above, has already said the idea of Covid-19 passports to access to pubs or restaurants is “not something that sits comfortably” with him.

Speaking to a Stormont health committee, he said: “It’s not something from a political or personal point of view I think we should ever develop in Northern Ireland that we would need to provide certification to enter a cinema or restaurant.”