Steve Baker MP called the regional law âawfulâ and not a âproportional response to the threat we face now the vaccines are workingâ.
âI think if people really want to go to events, now, with current levels of vaccination we have, it really should be a matter for people to chose their level of risk,â Mr Baker, from the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, told talkRADIOâs Julia Hartley-Brewer on Monday.
âWe really should be allowing people to bear their own risk, now,â he added.
The measures were passed by Members of the Senedd (Welsh Assembly) last Tuesday by just one vote, with reports at the time claiming that Conservative MS Gareth Davies was unable to vote against the measures due to technical difficulties which meant he could not log into the regional legislatureâs Zoom call.
Had he voted and there been a tie, the Labour Party-backed measures would not have been passed.
Exclusive: Leading Conservative MP Vows to Resist Vaccine Passport Social Credit Scores âAt All Costsâ https://t.co/mpQDRjS9CN
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 7, 2021
However, reports in subsequent days claim that Davies, who was at Conservative Party conference in Manchester, England at the time, was actually given plenty of opportunities to get in contact with the Seneddâs presiding officer, including being offered the option to vote by telephone.âHe was given a phone number to inform the Llywydd [presiding officer] of his voting intention but he never made the call and thatâs why weâre all scratching our heads wondering why he is blaming IT when he didnât make the phone call.
âThe fact he was at his party conference shows where his priorities lie,â one MS told WalesOnline.
Davies claimed he could not ring in his vote as he was on the phone at the time trying to sort out his IT problems.
The director of the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, Silkie Carlo, remarked last Wednesday: âThere are still two conflicting reports of what happened in Walesâ vaccine passport vote yesterday. Gareth Davies owes constituents and the country a full, honest explanation. People will not trust the democratic process without the cause of this shambles made crystal clear.â
London Assembly member and Heritage Party leader David Kurten said on Monday: âThere are serious questions being raised about the account given by Tory Gareth Davies on why he missed the vote in the Senedd which implemented âvaccine passportsâ in Wales.â
Wales becomes the second Home Nation in the United Kingdom to introduce domestic vaccine passports after Scotlandâs left-separatist regional government enforced the documents for entry to similar-sized venues earlier this month.
Similar plans were to be introduced in England in September but were cancelled. However, they remain in reserve if hospital numbers increase over winter.
Conservative MP Chris Green said last week that England should be âdeeply concernedâ after the measures were passed in Wales, warning that as half of the UK now have vaccine passports, it would only be a matter of time before England and Northern Ireland âeach have their own ID cardâ.
Boris Johnsonâs Govt Revamps Vaccine Passport Push Under Winter âPlan Bâ https://t.co/5lKP4Lv3Xq
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 29, 2021