Covid passports would give 'kiss of life' to north tourism industry, says north MSP.
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A NORTH MSP has urged Nicola Sturgeon to give "the kiss of life" to the tourism industry in the Highlands and Islands by supporting calls for Covid passports.
David Stewart, Labour's shadow public health minister, believes the time has come for people to secure freedom of movement in return for digital evidence demonstrating they have been tested for and vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Earlier this week the Covid-19 pandemic led the First Minister to introduce a strict hotel isolation policy for travellers from all countries who come to Scotland direct.
Mr Stewart, a Highlands and Islands MSP, said immunity passports capable of tracking and verifying an individual’s coronavirus status, holding details of vaccinations and Covid-19 test results, would let people travel again.
He said: "We are desperate to make sure our economy survives and I speak as a Highlander when I say tourism is of massive importance. I want to ask the First Minister for her view. I strongly support calls for the UK to take advantage of its upcoming presidency of the G7 to push other countries to also roll out these Covid passports. I want to ask the First Minister if she would support this plan and give the kiss of life to our tourism industry."
The plan, he added, "needs international leadership and might be the sort of thing President Biden would look at".
Mr Stewart said: "No matter what government does, airlines are not going to accept people on flights without some form of vaccination passport. We need something that is internationally recognisable. If we want to build up our tourism industry in the Highlands and Islands we need to allow foreign visitors to come in."
National Clinical Advisor, Jason Leitch, speaking at last week's Covid Committee in Holyrood, said there was precedent for immunity passports and it was "probably something that will happen in the future".
However, he stressed it would need to be "global rather than regional" and centred around solid public health knowledge, but said more information is needed to understand the transmission of the virus.
