Regarding vaccine passports, James Evans MS said:
“The First Minister's introduction vaccine passports in Wales at public gatherings is an extremely frightening prospect and a slippery slope.
Most of the Welsh public now have antibodies and over 90% have had the vaccine. Over the past eighteen months the people of Wales have let the Welsh Government impose lockdowns and firebreaks in order to delay the spread of the virus until we were all vaccinated. This situation has now passed, the people want to get back to living normal lives and the introduction of vaccine passports is a step in the wrong direction that I doubt will ever be repealed when introduced.
The goalposts can not continually be moved, the public deserve honesty and respect.
Where does it end? For many, they fear vaccine passports are a slippery slope to the introduction of further 'passports' that may restrict the freedoms all law abiding citizens enjoy.
We can not allow Welsh Government to introduce a two-tier society and I am proud the Welsh Conservatives stand fully opposed to it’s introduction.”
Regarding future lockdowns, James Evans MS said:
With Mark Drakeford announcing plans to introduce vaccine passports and refusing to rule out further lockdowns, I feel it is time to inform the people of Brecon and Radnorshire and Wales my position. I am totally opposed to any further lockdowns of any form, whether they try and word it as a 'firebreak', or a longer term lockdown'. It is clear from the past 18 months that these lockdowns DO NOT work.
The prospect of future lockdowns will strike fear in the hearts of millions of people across our country, many of whom struggled so much during previous lockdowns.
The vast majority of us accepted the first lockdown as the Government struggled to come to terms with the severity of Covid-19. There were rising levels of frustration at the second lockdown in winter 2020, which carried on into the spring.
We were told by our political leaders that the sacrifices we had made meant lockdowns were a thing of the past. Sadly, it seems some of our political leaders are changing their minds once again.
We need to have an open and honest discussion about the risks of Covid-19. The virus simply isn’t a deadly risk for most of the population and to treat it as such is taking the public for fools.
Let me make this clear, I am utterly opposed to any further lockdowns, the people graciously gave the Government permission to lock us down, but now we have got to the point where normality must resume. We know the vast majority of us are not at serious risk from Covid-19. The public have complied with previous restrictions and around 90% have been double vaccinated to protect them against the virus.
The people have done what was expected of them and now expect their lives to return to normal. I stand with them. Liberty must not be curtailed again.
We must be confident in our campaign against further lockdowns. To point out the damage lockdown has done; it has unleashed a mental health crisis in our young, created NHS backlogs that are going to kill many people who would usually receive treatment, our economy has suffered greatly, with many losing jobs and struggling to cope and now taxes are being increased to pay for the damage of lockdown on the public finances.
This cannot continue into the long term, The damage of lockdown is now being revealed and there is no way I would support any type in the future.
I am calling on my colleagues from across the political spectrum to join me in saying; No More Lockdowns.
