Exclusive: Tony Blair calls on Boris Johnson to lead drive for global vaccine passport

Exclusive: Tony Blair calls on Boris Johnson to lead drive for global vaccine passport

Talking to the Telegraph, the former prime minister conceded that travel passes may lead to inequalities between individuals and nations, but warned it was “inevitable” that they would be developed and the issue needed to be confronted now.

Vaccine passport schemes have already emerged in the middle east and Asia, for example.

Mr Blair said the UK faced two major risks if the UK does not use its “fortuitous” presidency of the G7 to “take the initiative” and establish a global standard.

“One is that everyone just does their own thing, which is much more chaotic and difficult to manage. Or secondly, there's a set of rules in place that you may not be that happy with.”

He added that uniform standards will help to ensure the safe reopening of borders and aid economic recovery, especially for the travel industry - which is worth more than 10 per cent of the global economy.

Worldwide, airlines alone suffered a net loss of £87 billion last year, as passenger traffic fell to 1999 levels, he noted. Financial aid from governments to airlines now totals $123 billion, a level of spending “unsustainable” in 2021.