Katy Balls

As opposition grows to government plans to introduce vaccine passports, not even the Prime Minister appears keen to defend the proposals. In Monday's press conference, Johnson refused to be drawn into a conversation about the plans and wouldn't even say whether there would be a Commons vote on the policy. However, government figures suggest the proposals will be put to a vote should they be given the green light in government. So, how will Keir Starmer vote when the time comes? Today Labour have suggested they will oppose the plans for domestic vaccine passports in their current form. A Labour source told Politico they were unlikely to support the plans 'on the basis of what we’ve seen and discussed with ministers'.

When Boris Johnson first unveiled his roadmap out of lockdown, there was a promise of an end to restrictions by 21 June. That date was quickly dubbed 'freedom day' online and in the press. However, many of the tricky decisions on social distancing, travel abroad and IDs were pushed later down the line into various government reviews. Today, the Prime Minister offered an update. Johnson had some good news — confirming that phase two of the roadmap would go ahead on 12 April. But his address also pointed to how there is unlikely to be a quick bounce back to normal come 21 June.

When Boris Johnson sought to extend the government’s emergency powers for another six months last week, he faced little opposition in the Commons. Rather than fight for parliament’s right to scrutinise the government, Keir Starmer told Labour MPs to vote with the Tories. There was only one party of opposition: the Liberal Democrats. Ed Davey, the party leader, complained in parliament about the ‘draconian’ powers taken by the government, and whipped his MPs to vote against them. The 11 Lib Dem MPs are a much-depleted force from the 57-strong party that propped up David Cameron in the coalition years. After they have spent years struggling to find ways to be heard, could a rediscovery of liberalism do the trick?

Since Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader, he has been criticised for failing to take strong positions on a variety of topics. However, the issue where Starmer tends to talk the toughest is anti-Semitism. The Labour leader has promised to root out anti-Semites from the party and when the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that Labour was 'responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination', Starmer described it as a 'day of shame'. He went on to suspend Jeremy Corbyn over his response to the report and in the process sparked a civil war.

It wasn't so long ago that ministers were lining up on broadcast to insists vaccine passports were out of the question when it came to the UK. While they could be used for travel abroad, the UK was — as Matt Hancock put it — not a 'papers, please' country. Instead, the UK appears to be turning into an 'app, please' nation. On Monday, Michael Gove met with MPs across the House for a private 'listening exercise' on immunity IDs. Although the purpose of the session was supposedly to gather MPs' thoughts on the issue of vaccine passports, attendees were left with the distinct impression that they would be going ahead regardless of their views.