Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer explains why she did not take part in Covid passports vote

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Ahead of Tuesday’s Plan B vote – which was opposed by nearly 100 Conservative rebels – Mrs Mortimer said “on the information currently available” that she could not support the Government’s proposals.

She added at the time: “Vaccine passports for domestic use are inequitable and, more importantly, ineffective.

"There is no evidence that vaccine passports have stopped or significantly slowed the spread of Covid-19 in other parts of the world.”

Hartlepool Conservative MP Jill Mortimer.

She did not, however, take part in the vote, which was supported by 369 MPs and opposed by another 126 and which forces people to carry proof of vaccination on entering large venues.

Mrs Mortimer has now said: “I couldn’t vote on Tuesday as I was fulfilling a family commitment arranged nearly two years ago for which I applied to be slipped the day after my election.

"This is why I made my view of the implementation of Covid Passports based on current evidence clear.

“The only way out if this is immunity which is provided by the vaccine.

"I would urge all Hartlepudlians to follow Government advice and get jabbed as soon as possible to protect themselves and each other.

"Omicron is spreading through our population but the vaccine either protects or reduces the impact it and other variants could have which will reduce hospitalisations and the adverse effect on our NHS.”

Easington Labour MP Grahame Morris did not respond to our request for a comment on why he did not vote either way.

The next scheduled walk-in clinic in Hartlepool for anyone takes place on Saturday, December 18, at the Mill House Leisure Centre, in Raby Road, from 9am-5pm.