Michael Gove lashes out at ‘selfish’ vaccine refusers

Michael Gove today lashed out at ‘selfish’ vaccine refusers, warning they face being barred from some events.

The Cabinet Office minister stepped up his rhetoric as the government mulls enforcing Covid passports at significant events and pubs – having already declared they will be required at nightclubs in England from September.

The comments risk fuelling a gathering Tory mutiny over the prospect of demanding proof, with a vote on the cards for September. 

Keir Starmer appears to have softened his opposition to the measures by suggesting he could get on board if a negative test can be used as evidence as well as vaccination documentation.  

On a visit to the Lighthouse testing lab in Glasgow, Mr Gove warned those who decline to be jabbed are ‘putting other people’s lives at risk’.

‘Ultimately, if you can be vaccinated and you refuse to, that is a selfish act,’ he said.

‘You’re putting other people’s health and lives at risk, you should get vaccinated.’

On a visit to the Lighthouse lab in Glasgow today, Michael Gove lashed out at ‘selfish’ vaccine refusers, warning they face being barred from some events

Mr Gove warned those who decline to be jabbed are ‘putting other people’s lives at risk’. Pictured, a young person getting a vaccine dose in London last month

When asked if refusal to be jabbed should prevent attendance at some mass events, the minister said: ‘It depends on which part of the United Kingdom you’re in and what the nature of the event is.

‘But if you deliberately refuse to get vaccinated and there are certain venues and certain events that require a certain level of safety, then, you know, the terms in which you will be able to get into those venues and those events will be barred to you.’

Mr Gove pushed for cooperation across the UK on a Covid-19 certification measure, but stressed it would be for the devolved administrations to make their decisions on the matter.

‘I think that the more we collaborate on this, the better,’ he said.

‘The Scottish Government will decide for itself what form of Covid status certification they believe is right.

‘We’ve worked well with the Scottish Government so far, but I think that people would expect there to be, in the same way we’ve got the same access to NHS services across the United Kingdom, the same access to certification, that would be the ideal, but its for the Scottish Government to decide.’

Tory MP Steve Baker said the issue of vaccine passports could cause a devastating rift in the party, but Mr Gove rejected the idea.

‘We’re going to do what’s right for public health and I think that Covid certification in certain limited venues and for certain limited events is a way of making people safer and giving more of us more freedom,’ he said.

The government is mulling enforcing Covid passports at significant events and pubs (file picture) – having already declared they will be required at nightclubs in England from September