Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly said he has “grave concerns” over Covid passports after opposing Plan B measures.

Mr Djanogly was one of the nearly 100 Conservative MPs who opposed the move in parliament last Tuesday (December 14).

It comes as the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across the UK.

In a statement for The Hunts Post, Mr Djanogly said he felt Covid-status certification was an “unacceptable infringement on our rights and freedoms”.

“I have supported proportionate measures taken by this Government to protect public health, but I have several concerns that mean I could not support the proposal to introduce measures such as mandatory COVID-status certification,” he explained.

“Firstly, mandatory certification would be an unacceptable infringement on our rights and freedoms.

“I believe we should all be allowed to live our lives free from interference and the introduction of certification would prevent this.

“It is easy to see how such certification could quickly progress from crowded events to housing, transport, or even work.”

Mr Djanogly also said he felt that there was limited knowledge of Omicron.

He continued: “Further, I believe the timing of this decision is wrong and lacks a clear basis in scientific evidence. Currently, there is little evidence that Omicron is more deadly than previous variants and our understanding of its potential impact is limited.

“Additionally, we know that vaccinated people can and do spread the virus and that other countries who have implemented COVID-status certification have not witnessed noticeable reductions in COVID transmission as a result.

“Finally, I have grave concerns about the possible two-tier society that mandatory COVID-certification would create.

“We have seen disparities in the levels of vaccination take-up across different groups in our society – these are readily visible in age, ethnicity, and levels of deprivation.

“Since the vaccine programme was launched, we have seen less uptake amongst younger people, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those from the most deprived parts of the country.

“The exclusion of these groups from participating fully in society is unthinkable and would only serve to exacerbate the existing inequalities this Government is working so hard to tackle.”

There were four votes in Parliament on Tuesday evening over the introduction of additional measures to combat Omicron.

The vote on NHS Covid passes was the most unpopular for Tory backbench MPs, but it went through 369 votes for, and 126 against with Labour’s support.