Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said the plan for vaccine passports “goes against everything I believe in”.
And he added that it pains him to bring in vaccine passports, as he faced savage attacks from Tory MPs in the Commons over the plans.
His comments came as MPs got the chance to debate the plans for people to prove they are double jabbed to go to large indoor venues from the end of September.
Zahawi said that the plans were "designed to reduce transmission and serious illness" and the Government was not taking it lightly.
"No-one in this Government, certainly not this Prime Minister - it is not in his DNA to curtail people's freedoms or require people to show a piece of paper before they enter a nightclub," he said.
"The reason that we are moving forward on this is because, if you look at what has happened in other countries where nightclubs were opening and then shutting again, opening and shutting again, we want to avoid that disruption and maintain sectors that can add to people's enjoyment of life."
“It pains me to have to have to stand at this despatch box and have to implement something that goes against the DNA of this minister and his prime minister – but we are living through difficult times," he added.
“It’s difficult for me to do – it goes against everything I believe in. But nevertheless it’s the right thing to do.”
Vaccine passports are due to be mandatory for nightclubs and other large venues from the end of September, the point when all adults will have been offered the chance to get both doses of the vaccine. Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient.
Zahawi faced strong criticism for the plans from MPs in his own party.
Senior backbench Conservative William Wragg called Zahawi’s comments “a load of rubbish”, adding, “I don't believe he believes a word of what he's just uttered because I remember him very persuasively stating my position - which we shared at the time - that this measure would be discriminatory and yet he's sent to the despatch box to defend the indefensible.
"This is a needless fight that we seem prepared to have in this House over the issue, it's completely unnecessary."
Wragg urged people to have the vaccine, but called vaccine passports "overtly discriminatory”, adding that they would be “utterly damaging to the fabric of society."
Former Tory chief whip Mark Harper, who chairs the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, called the plans "a pointless policy with damaging effects” and called on the government to think again, pointing out that MPs are not required to present vaccine passports to come to the House of Commons.
“Let's not have one rule for Members of Parliament and another rule for everybody else. Drop this policy,” he said.
Tory backbencher Simon Jupp said the plans will "create a two-tier society with the hospitality sector having to police an unethical policy that will hammer their recovery", while fellow Conservative Richard Fuller called the plans "unsupportable because they are bereft of any rationale".
Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said the plans "open the door to a major change in the relationship between the citizen and the state".
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
