Yesterday, after much hand-wringing and procrastination, the government finally delivered advice to businesses on how they should operate beyond July 19th, Freedom Day.
It was pretty much what we expected. Businesses will be encouraged to ask customers to see covid passports before serving them. It had been reported, that the passport scheme would only be used for nightclubs or venues with large crowds.
Not so. This government would prefer that every business in the country uses vaccine passports as a condition of entry. Boris Johnson said yesterday that firms should show “social responsibility” and make use of the NHS Covid pass (a phone app), which shows proof of double vaccination, a recent negative test or natural immunity, as a means of entry.
According to The Telegraph:
The document stated: “Consider the use of the NHS Covid pass to reduce the risk of transmission at your venue or event.”
It went on to say the Government would “work with organisations that operate large, crowded settings (for example, nightclubs) where people are likely to be in close proximity to a large number of those from other households to use the NHS Covid pass as a condition of entry”.
Steve Baker, the deputy chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown-sceptic Tories, said: “I am simply astonished that, after everything the Prime Minister and Michael Gove said in the past about ID cards, they are advancing this fast down this really quite appalling path.”
Meanwhile in Ireland, the government there passed legislation that allows bars, restaurants and cafés to resume indoor service, but only for those who can prove they have been vaccinated or have had covid in the past six months.
According to Irish state broadcaster RTE:
The Dáil has passed the Government’s legislation on the reopening of indoor hospitality.
It will allow bars, restaurants and cafés to resume indoor service for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, or who have recovered from the disease in the last six months.
The Health (Amendment No.2) Bill 2021 was voted through tonight by 74 votes to 68.
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that covid passes would be required for entry to supermarkets, cafés and restaurants. Governments are operating in lockstep. The question is, who’s pulling the strings?
Writing in The Telegraph today, Douglas Murray pulls no punches:
The creation of “vaccine certification” means that we now face the prospect of having our papers demanded not just if we dare to think about leaving the country for some reason, but if we just want to go to almost any public gathering.
Only by proving that you have had the vaccine or a recent negative test will you be allowed to take part in activities which we didn’t even question as among our rights before 2020.
We live in a world where we have volunteered to have ourselves monitored by private companies and corporations. But still there is something sinister about the speed with which we are rushing into an existence where the Government can restrict our activities to such an alarming extent.
We are walking into a state in which the Government has a permanent mechanism of control of the populace. Where instead of asking “Who are you?” of anyone in authority we turn instead into supplicants asking, “May we?”
Everywhere I look I see compliance. No, scratch that. I see eager compliance. I see people wearing masks outdoors, while alone in cars, while cycling and this morning for the first time, I saw a guy wearing one while running.
Friends of mine whose children are of university age have been telling me that despite being warned against it, their kids have had the jab. Holidays and music festivals are the common denominator it seems.
Whoever or whatever is behind this diabolical agenda, couldn’t care less about 46 year-old bald gammon’s like me and whether or not I comply. It’s the young they’re after.
