‘Police state’: Chesterfield businessman Steve Perez slams Government’s ‘vaccine passport’ announcement

Latest national figures show 35 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds have not had their first jab.

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On Monday – so-called ‘Freedom Day’ when coronavirus restrictions were eased – Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people attending nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather in England will need to be fully vaccinated from the end of September.

Currently, nightclubs and other crowded venues are only encouraged to ask people to show proof of vaccination, a negative test result or immunity.

Steve Perez who owns Casa Hotel, Peak Edge Hotel and Global Brands and has campaigned for the hospitality sector throughout the pandemic, slammed the announcement.

“This is totally unfair,” he told the Derbyshire Times.

“Young people have had to bear the brunt of this pandemic – job losses, missing education and now social lives will be decimated by this requirement to produce vaccine passports before entering nightclubs.

“We’re becoming some kind of police state.

“At one time Mr Johnson said he’d eat ID cards – now people will soon be expected to show our medical records when arriving at a nightclub.

“This is wrong, this is undemocratic, this is totally un-British – we must fight this invasion of our liberty and stop this requirement to produce vaccine passports.”

Mr Perez added: “For those people who think ‘this doesn’t affect me’, this is a thin end of the wedge.

“Next will be pubs, restaurants, shops – we will all be expected to carry our vaccine passports.

“This has got to be nipped in the bud right now.”

The Government’s announcement came on the day nightclubs in England were allowed to reopen after nearly 18 months of closure.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, said nightclubs and other such venues could be ‘potential super spreading events’ because of crowds in close contact.

Mr Johnson said: "Nightclubs need to do the socially responsible thing.

"And I should serve notice now that by the end of September, when all over-18s have had their chance to be double jabbed, we're planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather."

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