A Labour minister couldn’t produce any evidence to show COVID passes were successful in Wales – proving the scheme was “flawed and redundant” from the start.
With COVID passes coming to an end this week, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Tom Giffard MS, asked his Labour counterpart what evidence the government had to show the controversial passes were successful in protecting public health.
Labour’s Dawn Bowden insisted the passes were a “success” but failed to back up her claim with any evidence.
Tom Giffard also called on the Labour Government to commit to holding a Wales-specific COVID inquiry which would answer many questions and examine decisions made throughout the pandemic.
He told the Senedd: “I think we will get to the bottom of whether COVID passes were a success in Wales or not, or indeed whether the Welsh Government significantly overstepped the mark here and cost businesses a lot of income, is to properly assess whether this was the right decision in a Wales-specific COVID inquiry.
“But the Welsh Government, however, seem unwilling to hold one and are hiding behind an English COVID inquiry instead.”
Commenting after the Senedd exchange, Tom Giffard, who is also the MS for South Wales West, said:
“It is rather damning that the minister couldn’t produce a single piece of evidence which showed COVID passes were a success.
“It’s clear these passes – which were flawed and redundant from the start - did absolutely nothing to stop the spread of coronavirus and everything to inflict financial misery on businesses.
“There is no evidence they protected public health, instead it shows that hospitality and tourism businesses took a huge economic hit having to fork out cash to implement the scheme and losing out on trade.
“It is vital that all decisions taken by Labour ministers throughout the pandemic – both good and bad – are put under the microscope of a Wales-specific inquiry instead of being confined to a footnote in a UK probe.”
