UK's Johnson faces political threat in virus rules votes
ABC News
British lawmakers are to vote on whether to approve new restrictions to curb the spread of the omicron variant
LONDON -- British lawmakers will vote Tuesday on whether to approve new restrictions to curb the spread of the omicron variant — and many will have more than public health on their minds when they say yes or no.
The votes are also an opportunity to express unhappiness with embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose approval ratings — both with voters and inside his own Conservative Party — have plunged amid ethics scandals and allegations the government breached its own pandemic restrictions.
The House of Commons is voting on measures that take effect this week, ordering masks to be worn indoors in England, changing rules on self-isolation and — contentiously — requiring proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs and large crowded events.
Vaccine passes have become commonplace in many European countries, but Johnson’s government has resisted introducing them in England, although the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own health rules, have done so.
