Yesterday, Boris Johnson announced that the requirement to be fully vaccinated in order to enter nightclubs will be in place by the end of September.

However, the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding proof of vaccination for entry to crowded indoor places, including nightclubs, has provoked reaction from the sector.

Michael Kill, chief executive officer of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), has responded to the announcement: “So, ‘freedom day’ for nightclubs lasted around 17 hours then. The announcement from the Prime Minister that Covid passports will be made mandatory for night clubs in September comes after his Health Secretary said only one week ago that they would not be compulsory. What an absolute shambles."

“Leaving aside the fact that this is yet another chaotic U-turn that will leave night clubs who have been planning for reopening for months will now have to make more changes to the way they operate – this is still a bad idea.”

A statement from the Music Venue Trust, which represents grassroots music venues, responded to the announcement with this statement: “The government needs to bring forward a workable, usable and accurate certification process that is in wide use across society and is accepted as normal and necessary by the public.

“Singling out nightclubs, or music venues, or any other cultural activity, as spaces required to deliver such a policy won’t work without the tools to do it and without addressing the obvious point that most grassroots music venues have lower capacities and lower total attendees per day than pubs.

“We note that the aim is to ‘boost vaccine uptake among young people’. The aim of certification should be the safety of the public.”