I voted with the Government this evening, and will put the text of my speech in the comments. The vote on Covid Passes passed by a majority of 243 (369 for, 126 against) - you can see who voted which way here: https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1182
My belief is that the measures proposed are a proportionate and balanced response to the as-yet-unknown threat of Omicron. We know Omicron transmits much more easily, but we do not yet know how much less severe it is - the early evidence from South Africa is that it is about 29% milder than the original strain of Covid, which is good but not great news, given the potential number of cases.
I will note again that the Covid Passes, which some are calling “vaccine passports", do not actually require vaccination - a negative lateral flow test (or a recent recovery from Covid) also qualifies. I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State for Health's assurance that lateral flow tests will remain included as part of the Covid Pass in the future. Recent polling has shown that seven in ten UK adults support vaccine passports for nightclubs and large gatherings.
The Secretary of State also confirmed that this Government will never move to mandatory vaccination of the public.
Finally, the most important part of this fight against coronavirus, and the way out of this, is to get vaccinated. So if you haven't yet been boosted, please follow the link: https://www.nhs.uk/.../coro.../book-coronavirus-vaccination/