The Labour Government in Cardiff Bay is being taken to court over its continued imposition of vaccine passports despite no evidence that they work in meeting their objectives.
A judicial review is being sought by Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties campaign group, which has called the scheme “draconian, discriminatory and pointless”.
The Welsh vaccine passport was launched in October last year. The settings in which it must be use was later expanded, and now demands people attending cinemas, concert halls, nightclubs, theatres, and certain large events present it.
To be eligible for the domestic passport, people must prove they are vaccinated or have had a negative lateral flow test.
The Labour Government introduced the scheme to “keep businesses open while also helping to control the spread of the virus and protect the NHS”. No evidence exists to show vaccine passports have succeeded in their purpose.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said:
“Vaccine passports are coercive, ineffective, costly to business, and continue to have no evidence base. We must not forget that they are not a route out of restrictions, they are a restriction.
“Therefore, the Welsh Conservatives are supportive of this legal challenge against the Labour Government’s continued imposition of the freedom-limiting passport on the people of Wales.
“As legislators, our job is to make good law and strike down bad law: vaccine passports neither limit the spread of the virus nor increase uptake of the vaccine, so have no place on the statute books.
“Labour, with Plaid Cymru’s support, are only keeping them in place so they do not look like their u-turning on one of the most poorly informed policies ever implemented during the age of devolution.”
