Civil liberties NGO Big Brother Watch has tonight projected a message onto Parliament, calling on the Government to drop plans to mandate Covid passes.
The rights group, which is leading a national campaign against Covid passes, argues that the Government’s plans to mandate medical certification for entry to certain venues is “unevidenced, discriminatory and wrong”.
The campaigners projected a message onto the Palace of Westminster reading “No to exclusion. No to checkpoints. No to discrimination. No to Covid ID.”
The projection included a url to Big Brother Watch’s dedicated campaign page, stopvaccinepassports.co.uk, urging members of the public to send an email to their MPs and MSPs opposing the plan. Members of the public have donated over £150,000 to Big Brother Watch’s Crowdfunder against Covid passes, with the group vowing to bring a legal challenge if vaccine passports are mandated in a parliamentary vote expected later this month.
The campaigners also have their sights set on the Scottish Government, which is set to put mandatory vaccine passports for large events to a snap vote this week.
82 MPs have signed Big Brother Watch’s pledge opposing “the divisive and discriminatory use of Covid status certification to deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs” including 44 Conservative MPs.
Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo said:
“A vaccine ID doesn’t tell you that a person doesn’t have Covid or cannot spread Covid. Covid IDs in any form will make no one any safer, whilst leading to a two-tier checkpoint society. Boris Johnson’s plans for internal health passports are unjustified and frankly un-British.
“Discriminatory Covid passes will lead to social exclusion, job losses, and the creation of a subclass of people in our country. We cannot allow this to happen.
“There are far more proportionate, effective and inclusive measures to keep people safe and get the country back to normal than excluding healthy people without the right health papers from society. We can never get back to anything like normal with health ID checks that would inevitably endure and expand far beyond the current situation.
“We urge politicians in England and Scotland to reject divisive and discriminatory Covid passes.”
NOTES
Spokespeople are available for interviews. Contact Big Brother Watch’s 24h media line on 07730439257 or email info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk
Photos below are available for free use with credit to Big Brother Watch.
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