Vaccine passports scrapped – but what does that say about Voter ID?
The ballot box: Boris Johnson doesn’t want you to be able to put anything into it until you can show valid photo ID, like a Tory Party membership card.
Let’s remind ourselves of something Boris Johnson said, way back in pre-history:
"If I am ever asked to produce an ID Card… I will take that card out of my wallet and physically eat it" – Boris Johnson, 2004.#ElectionsBill #VoterID
— Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (@BellRibeiroAddy) September 7, 2021
Brilliant! And half-true…
The plan for Covid-19 vaccination passports has just been scrapped by Sajid Javid.
Clearly he has been reading This Site’s discussion of the rights and wrongs of forcing people to vaccinate. Denying them entry to places unless they have been forced to vaccinate is still forcing people to vaccinate, of course.
(Amazingly, one of the guys who was so determined to force his will on other people – even though it wouldn’t make any difference to whether they passed the virus on to him – is still demanding it. His latest effort was to say that people should be force-vaccinated for the same reason we aren’t allowed to smoke in offices – to prevent passive smoking. But passive smoking is forced on non-smokers by smokers and the prohibition is to stop smokers putting something in non-smokers’ bodies that they don’t want there – which is exactly what this guy is trying to do by forcing injections on people who don’t want them. Some might say that’s practically rape.)
However Johnson is still forcing voter ID on us.
It makes a nonsense of Javid’s claim that “I’ve never liked the idea of saying to people you must show your papers or something to do what is just an everyday activity.” Voting might not be everyday but is still regular.
The Welsh Assembly has already recommended that consent for the Elections Bill – which demands that voters produce a recognised form of photo ID or be turned away – should be refused.
It would make sweeping changes to the UK’s electoral system with very little justification – the “voter ID” demand is being made in spite of the fact that voter impersonation is very nearly nonexistent in the UK.
So convention requires the Assembly to give consent – and it is being withheld. The Welsh Government is seeking amendments that will reduce the impact on Welsh law.
That should keep the Bill tied up for a while.
And just as well, to judge from the reactions:
We are watching voting rights evaporate – and Parliament is doing absolutely nothing to stop it.
This is how Democracy dies
— Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) September 7, 2021
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Believe it or not I have to physically go into my local council offices to show my ID to prove who I am before they will put me on the Electoral Register…I did my application online….and according to the response they say that my NI number and DOB do not match the government records…Which is nonsense as my NI was on a government letter…I receive a State Pension…my DOB I should know…However, they say the Government computer software do not accept what I put into the computer….How many people do you reckon will be fed up and not bother doing this…There is already apathy out there….this will only create more!! All of this to stop Electoral voting fraud… I was told by one of the staff at the Council Offices Cotswolds District Council it was to protect me!!!! Yeah right!!!
A point on the COVID vaccine topic, Mike: I haven’t gone for vaccination yet myself (neither have my wife or her daughter – totally independent decisions, incidentally) on the basis that all the vaccines are still experimental (especially the MRNA ones), which is why, so far as I am aware, all the manufacturers and at least a good proportion of governments have flatly refused to accept liability for any nasty side effects that may manifest themselves in the future; the manufacturers – who are, of course, the pharmaceutical giants that have reputations comparable with those of the big players in oil, tobacco, herbicides, pesticides etc. (and, mostly, are in line for vast COVID vaccine related profits) – have demanded (and been given) immunity (if you’ll pardon the expression!). It has to be a GOOD THING that a significant number of people have selected themselves to be in the control group for this procedure, otherwise it wouldn’t really be a valid experiment, would it?
I can’t agree about the vaccine passports. I was against it as I thought that either it’s safe enough to reopen or it isn’t. If there’s a need for them then the venue shouldn’t be open at all. That said they HAVE reopened them now. So, with that in mind, we need to stop the worst of the spread and reduce outbreaks. By making sure those who are there at least have protection of vaccinations it will mitigate some of the outbreaks at least. No one NEEDS to go to a nightclub and it only applies to venue with larger capacity anyway. It won’t stop anyone from socialising.
The problem with your thinking James is that you’ll never know if the vaccine is the right choice for you. my wife works in end-of-life care and those that have died were shocked that they caught covid in the first place. all the time you remain unvaccinated James you are at risk of catching it just basic health science and common sense in the same way if i don’t get vaccinated when traveling to certain countries i could end up dead if unlucky. The same applies here as well and in the years to come. If you remain unvaccinated your luck will always run out at some point ?
With Covid-19, it doesn’t matter if you are vaccinated or not; you are still in danger of catching the virus. The question is of how badly you suffer from it if you do.
indeed mike