Tory backbenchers accused ministers of trying to turn Britain into a 'Beijing-style democracy' today amid a row over compulsory vaccine passports for universities.
Boris Johnson is said to be 'raging' about the relatively low uptake of Covid jabs in young people, and had suggested the move to drive up the rates.
It would see students only allowed back on campus in September if they can prove they have been double-jabbed.
But Tory MP Tom Tugendhat railed against the scheme today saying it would lead to yet another form of ID card.
The chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee told TalkRadio: 'We need to be extremely careful that we don't go from a Brussels-type democracy to a Beijing-type democracy.'
Other Conservative MPs branded the scheme as 'wrongheaded' and said it risked turning Britain into a two-tier society.
And the University and College Union — which represents universities — said it was 'hugely discriminatory' against foreign students and those who won't be able to get jabbed.
Covid cases are now concentrated mostly in younger age groups who are less likely to get the vaccine because they do not see the virus as a threat.
Official figures show adults in their early twenties in England were 12 times more likely to be infected with Covid than the over-60s last week.
And they were 20 times more likely to have suffered an infection than the over-80s.
It comes after the minister for children and families Vicky Ford repeatedly refused to rule out the plans during a round of interviews today.
The Prime Minister has already said clubbers will need to be double-vaccinated from September to attend the late night venues.
Data from the Government's dashboard showed 18 to 24 year olds made up 14 per cent of cases on July 17. This was the lions' share and 12 times more than in the over-60s
Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat (left) said the plan risked turning Britain into a 'Beijing-style democracy'. And the chair of the education select committee Robert Halfon said the plan was 'wrongheaded'
Speaking on Sky News this morning, children's minister Vicky Ford refused to rule out students being required to have both doses of a Covid vaccine to get back to university this autumn
The chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs Mark Harper said today the plans for vaccine passports in universities amounted to 'compulsory vaccination'.
He urged ministers to return to 'persuasion not panic' to roll-out the jabs, saying it was the 'right public health approach'.
And the chairman of the Commons education select committee Robert Halfon called the plans 'wrongheaded'.
Mr Halfon told The Times: 'It's something out of Huxley's Brave New World where people with vaccine passports will be engineered into social hierarchies — those who will be given higher education or those who will not.'
A new poll by YouGov suggests the use of face masks among young people has slumped since 'freedom day' on July 19.
The survey found 46 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they wore a face mask in a public place in the last two weeks, compared to 58 per cent on July 16 and 64 per cent on June 2.
Meanwhile, the survey of 1,742 British adults between July 21 and 22 found other age groups were still wearing face coverings at around the same rate.
Data shows 69 per cent of all Britons say they wore a face mask in the last two weeks, compared to 71 per cent on July 16 and 73 per cent on June 2.
YouGov also said young people were less likely to be fully vaccinated and more likely to have disabled their NHS Covid-19 app.
The researcher said that while last week 38 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds had been avoiding crowded places, this has now fallen to 26 per cent.
Older generations showed little to no change in their behaviour towards crowded spaces.
Meanwhile, the proportion of Britons thinking the Government is handling Covid-19 well fell from 41 per cent just before 'freedom day' to 34 per cent afterwards.
Attitudes among Conservative voters tumbled 17pts this week. Prior to July 19, about three-quarters (73 per cent) of Conservative voters thought the Government was doing a good job of managing the pandemic response.
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The UCU called the plans 'highly discriminatory'. Its general secretary Jo Grady said the scheme aimed to blame students for poor vaccine uptake in young people.
'Sadly, this looks and smells like a Prime Minister trying to pin the blame on students for not yet taking up a vaccine they have not been prioritised to receive'.
She called on Mr Johnson to instead work with universities to boost uptake among young people.
Labour also attacked the plans today, with leader Sir Keir Starmer warning: 'I just to be very clear about this, I don't want to see vaccine passports used on an everyday basis.' Deputy leader Angela Rayner described the plans as 'unworkable'.
Ms Ford refused to rule out the plans today, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'So obviously, I can't comment on things that haven't been announced.
'But one does need to look at every practicality to make sure that we can get students back safely and make sure that we can continue to prioritise education.'
Mr Johnson's officials spokesman also refused to rule out the radical policy.
He said: ‘You have heard what the PM has said before, specifically that the pandemic is not over and as he said last week we are still looking at the scope for vaccination certification and as we said last week I am not going to go into individual sectors or settings.
‘We obviously reserve the right to protect the public and reduce transmission which is why as I say we are still looking at the scope of the
