British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his controversial plan for COVID passes.
Johnson made the defence after a massive rebellion by Conservative MPs left the opposition parties questioning his authority to lead the country through the pandemic.
After 100 fellow Conservatives opposed the measure in the Commons earlier on Tuesday evening, the prime minister acknowledged there were “legitimate anxieties’’ about the impact on civil liberties.
But during a noisy session of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, he insisted the approach the government had taken in the face of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant was “balanced, proportionate and right.’’
However, leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer said the vote had exposed the weakness of a premier who had lost the trust of the public and of his own MPs following reports of parties last Christmas in No 10 in breach of COVID regulations.
“We cannot go on with a prime minister who is too weak to lead, so will the prime minister take time this Christmas to look in the mirror and ask himself if he has the trust and authority to lead this country?’’ he demanded.
Johnson retorted: “I respect and understand the legitimate anxieties colleagues have about restrictions on the liberty of the people but I believe the approach that we are taking is balanced and proportionate and right for this country.’’(dpa/NAN)