Night czar warns of 'conflict on the doors' amid calls for vaccine passport details

23-Jul-2021 - Last updated on 23-Jul-2021 at 09:18 GMT

Nightclub narrative: night time economy adviser for Greater Manchester Sacha Lord has urged the Government to issue more details over vaccine requirements (image: Michael Blann / Getty )

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Night time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, Sacha Lord, has called on the Government to urgently provide details on vaccination requirements for venues.

Lord told The Morning Advertiser: "It's not good enough. It's creating so much anxiety amongst the industry. They urgently need to come forward now and actually give guidance. We can't wait weeks."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this week that two Covid vaccines would be made a condition of entry for nightclubs by the end of September.

There has been concern from operators after Downing Street refused to explicitly rule out this policy extending to busy bars and pubs.

Open ended

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told MPs earlier this week the entry policy could be extended to “large unstructured outdoor events, such as business events and festivals, or very large structured events, such as business events, music and spectator sport events.”

Greater Manchester night czar, Lord, said he was worried about the implications of the Government's language. "When you dig down into it, it's nightclubs and venues where there are large gatherings which really concerns me because where does that stop?"

He added: "It feels really open ended to me. Could this now be pubs and restaurants? What's the different between a bar that holds 1,200 people and a nightclub that holds 120 people?

Conflict on the doors

"The fact that they have turned round now and said 'well over the next few weeks we are going to look at the data and make decisions', it's wrong to me, completely wrong."

He warned of "absolutely phenomenal" levels of "conflict on the doors" amid trade bodies urging the Government to publish details on the proposals immediately.

Lord added: "They made this announcement on Monday (19 July), hid behind the word nightclub. It is going to create huge conflict on the doors between staff and customers. How do we police it? They've not thought about the economic impact. They haven't thought about that."

Current guidance for nightclubs recommends they operate a Covid check system and ask customers to show proof of a negative test result or vaccination via the NHS Covid pass.