The Conversation (0)
Kate Plummer
Dec 13, 2021
A Conservative MP has sparked a backlash after comparing plans to introduce proof of a negative test result or vaccination to enter certain venues to “Nazi Germany”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Marcus Fysh explained that he will be voting against the measures – which come as part of the government’s Plan B and will be required in nightclubs and other large venues – as the UK is not “Nazi Germany”.
He said: “We live in a free society in this country where people have the freedom to do what they want with their own bodies and freedom of association”.
The concept of vaccine passports would be “segregating society based on an unacceptable thing”, he added.
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“We are not a ‘papers please’ society...” he went on.
“This is not Nazi Germany. It’s the thin end of an authoritarian wedge.”
Responding to his comments, people found them utterly tasteless:
talk about politics without comparing it to nazi germany challenge https://t.co/uSB9jxc8YY— Bethany Dawson (@Bethany Dawson) 1639393746
omg guys you have to find something other than Nazi Germany to relate any minor convenience to. Are you not? Embarrassed?— Ava-Santina (@Ava-Santina) 1639392476
Tories: The left are trying to erase history! Also Tories: The horrors of Nazi Germany was where you needed to pro… https://t.co/2LBrhH0rVt— James Felton (@James Felton) 1639389642
Showing your vaccine status is nothing like Nazi Germany Stop comparing the most horrific inhumanity to attempts to… https://t.co/esdG5Gt8Ym— nazir afzal (@nazir afzal) 1639388831
A reminder that the Nazis murdered six million people. Comparing having to take a lateral flow test to go dancing t… https://t.co/fjFy4PlOZz— Matthew Stadlen (@Matthew Stadlen) 1639391056
It's certainly not Nazi Germany, where there was state-sponsored mass murder, ghettos, torture, death camps and the… https://t.co/jv6hAuTU9y— Adam Wagner (@Adam Wagner) 1639395776
They also pointed out that he has voted for measures which involve people providing “papers” to do certain things like vote:
The sheer hypocrisy of these people, who are simultaneously pushing through a "papers please" clause (compulsory vo… https://t.co/K8atWClhTo— George Monbiot (@George Monbiot) 1639390537
Tory MP Marcus Fysh won't vote for new Covid measures, because we're not a 'papers please' society. But he did vote… https://t.co/3uV0RDOOw5— Dr. Bendor Grosvenor (@Dr. Bendor Grosvenor) 1639392167
Fysh is expected to be one of the around 75 Tory rebels, led by Steve Baker, who will vote against the introduction of either mask-wearing or Covid certification in parliament on Tuesday.
The restrictions are set to expire six weeks after implementation, with a review after three weeks and they are likely to pass Tory rebellion or not, as the Labour Party have said they will back them.
One Tory backbencher told The Guardian: “The mood on the back benches is really angry.
“It’s going to be quite a sizeable rebellion. I think the Government will only get this through with Labour votes. It’s a bit like the Theresa May Brexit days – which is somewhere I never really wanted to go back to.”
Seems to us that the Brexit comparison is thoroughly more appropriate than Nazi Germany.
Indy100 has contacted Fysh to comment on this story.