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Night Time Industries Association continues to pile on pressure over COVID Passports
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 26 August 2021
The Night Time Industries Association continues to put pressure on the UK government over its plan to force clubs and some other venues to check the COVID vaccination status of customers at the door from the end of next month. NTIA wants minsters to abandon that plan.
In a statement yesterday, the trade group said that over 15,000 letters have now been sent to MPs opposing the proposal that night-time businesses must check COVID passports from late September. Prime Minister ‘Boris’ Johnson first announced that plan last month as other COVID regulations were relaxed in England, allowing clubs to re-open and full capacity shows to resume,
NTIA boss Michael Kill says: “Over 15,000 letters have been sent to constituent MP’s highlighting the industry’s deep concern for the government narrative around COVID passports, in particular the impact of this measure on the workforce, trade and culture”.
“After a short period of freedom, we are once again overshadowed by uncertainty, the end of September brings with it some huge challenges around staffing, discrimination, safety, and tourism”, he adds. “We are already seeing bookings and advance ticket sales dropping off at the end of September with several event promoters reporting refund requests due to COVID passport requirements from the start of October.”
“We are also seeing the initial signs of illegal events being organised for the end of September, early October, which will certainly be counter productive against the current public health strategy, and will place further pressure on emergency services and policing”, he goes on. “Our industry has been exceptional during this pandemic, supporting communities, managing people, risk and public health and we are now seeing irrefutable evidence of this success in the daily infection and mortality figures”.
Concluding, Kill says: “The government needs to step forward and confirm its intentions and end the uncertainty of a sector worth over 112 billion to the economy”.