Lib Dems warn of vaccine IDs impact on business in wake of ‘bombshell’ leaked document

A government impact assessment, reported on by the Telegraph newspaper this morning, said the certification could potentially be “counterintuitive” and “counterproductive” given that they could encourage people to gather in badly ventilated bars and pubs rather than larger venues.

Commenting on the leaked report’s claim that the estimated turnover of affected venues could drop between £345 million and £2.067 billion if Covid-19 certification came in, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “This bombshell revelation shows the damage the government’s Covid ID card plans would do to struggling businesses for hardly any benefit. It is simply unacceptable that the Conservatives tried to hide this crucial evidence from the public and Parliament.

“The Liberal Democrats have been clear from the start that Covid ID cards would be costly and unworkable, now it turns out the government’s own official advice agreed with us. Ministers must publish this impact assessment immediately and give Parliament a vote on these proposals, so we can put an end to them once and for all.