Vaccine passports 'would not be permanent’, says culture secretary

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said vaccine passports would not be a permanent measure after comments made by the prime minister last week reignited the debate around whether hospitality venues could require customers to prove they have been vaccinated.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Dowden said: “Of course, we would never look to do this on a permanent basis… It’s just whether it might be a tool in the short run.”

He added: “We’re looking at the benefits it could bring… in order to facilitate further easing of the economy and allowing us to get back to doing the things that we love.”

Johnson said last week that the concept of vaccine certificates "should not be totally alien to us" and when queried if it could apply to pubs, he added: "I think that's the kind of thing that may be up to individual publicans. It may be up to the landlord."

The government is conducting a review into the role Covid status certificates could have in reopening the economy after previously ruling them out, although the major hospitality trade bodies have all expressed opposition to the idea.