Can we believe anything the Government says?

As a general rule of thumb, if the Government promises something, expect the opposite to happen.

As a general rule of thumb, if the Government promises something, expect the opposite to happen.

This attitude would have helped you see through the ‘three weeks to flatten the curve’ shtick, and the Prime Ministerial promise that ‘schools are safe’. Indeed, a healthy dose of scepticism would not have gone amis on the subject of the Government’s (past and present) recording of COVID deaths.

But what about ‘vaccine passports’? Michael Gove assured Brits that ‘I certainly am not planning to introduce any vaccine passports, and I don't know anyone else in Government who is’. Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi also confirmed that pressuring people to vaccinate — which a vaccine passport certainly would do — is ‘not how we do things in the U.K.’.

It didn’t take long for these pledges to crumble.

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, has today revealed that vaccine passports are ‘under consideration’.

Sky News reports: ‘[We] revealed earlier this week that the Cabinet Office had drawn up a proposal to introduce vaccine and testing certificates for when international travel is allowed again, with Mr Raab's support.’

Raab today confirmed ‘it's something that hasn't been ruled out.’

This should come as no surprise. As I recorded in a recent article:

‘We have long been told ‘vaccine passports’ will not be required; yet thousands of pounds of taxpayer of money has been given to various ventures to create such passports.

‘From The Daily Telegraph:  ‘Logifect, a firm handed £62,000 in grants by the agency InnovateUK, has designed a phone app, due to launch next month, that allows Britons to show confirmation of their vaccinations.  ‘iProov and Mvine, two companies given a £75,000 grant for their joint drive, are working on digital "certificates" that would allow people to prove their immunity when asked.’

‘The paper was right to point out that whilst ministers have publicly been critical of such schemes, privately they have been far more ‘nuanced’.’

We must refuse to swallow this spin — especially the nonsensical notion that ‘Boris’ Johnson is the most ‘freedom-loving Prime Minister of this nation in decades’ — and make our concerns regarding the erosion of our liberty heard.