'This Is Not Nazi Germany' Marcus Fysh MP to Rachel Burden BBC 5Live on Vaccine Passports 14Dec21
Tory MP compares vaccine passports to ‘Nazi Germany’
Gergana Krasteva Tuesday 14 Dec 2021
https://metro.co.uk/2021/12/14/tory-mp-marcus-fysh-compares-covid-vaccine-passports-to-nazi-germany-15767799/
https://politicsthisweek.wordpress.com/2021/12/16/not-the-bcfm-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-70/
A Tory MP has sparked outrage after likening plans to introduce Covid-19 health passes in the UK to ‘Nazi Germany’.
Marcus Fysh is expected to be among at least 75 MPs voting against Boris Johnson’s so-called ‘Plan B’ today.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the MP for Yeovil said the concept of vaccine passports, used to enter nightclubs, would be ‘segregating society based on an unacceptable thing’.
He said: ‘We live in a free society in this country where people have the freedom to do what they want with their own bodies and freedom of association.
‘We are not a “papers please” society. This is not Nazi Germany. It’s the thin end of an authoritarian wedge.’
Listeners quickly slammed his ‘unexcusable’ rant as ‘grotesque historical ignorance’ and pointed out that in September, the MP backed the government’s Elections Bill, which will force voters to present IDs at polling stations.
Critics have already said the controversial measure will hit tens of thousands of black, transgender and disabled people, who are less likely to be registered to vote.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews president Marie van der Zyl said it is ‘completely unacceptable to compare the proposed vaccine passports with Nazi Germany’.
She added: ‘We urge people, particularly those in positions of authority, to avoid these highly inappropriate comparisons.’
If Plan B is agreed in Parliament today, people will need to show proof they are fully vaccinated, or a negative test was taken in the past 48 hours, or that they have an exemption.
Adam Wagner, a barrister who examines Covid-19 regulations, urged MPs not to ‘inadvertently trivialise’ the debate over the passes with ‘ridiculous comparisons’.
‘It’s certainly not Nazi Germany, where there was state-sponsored mass murder, ghettos, torture, death camps and the literal dehumanisation and genocide of entire ethnic and other groups,’ he added.
This comes as Dominic Raab, who appeared on Sky News this morning, urged the Tory rebels to back the government’s latest raft of restrictions, arguing vaccine passports are not a ‘big step or a slippery slope’.
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When asked about the backbencher’s remarks, the deputy prime minister said: ‘I don’t accept it and I don’t think it’s right and I don’t think it’s a reasonable critique. But I do understand concerns that people have.
‘I don’t think that is particularly intrusive thing to do in order that we protect ourselves and others around us.
‘It’s a sensible, precautionary public health measure that will protect us all.’
