Pub Covid checks shouldn't be a big deal – as long as they are temporary | Simon Jenkins

Boris Johnson says vaccine passports may in fact be necessary, but can we trust him to return our freedom afterwards?

You can tell when Boris Johnson is telling a whopper. He waves his arms and rolls his eyes. When he sits tight and mutters, “Um, er, well, y’know”, we see truth struggling to escape the ectoplasm of his ego.

This week the prime minister ummed and err-ed his way through an answer to the Commons liaison committee on the question of pub vaccination passports, which he has long opposed...