More than 1,200 church leaders have urged PM Boris Johnson not to introduce Covid vaccine certificates, saying they are an “unethical form of coercion”.

In an open letter, the leaders – who include Anglican and Catholic ministers – warn passports could create a “surveillance state”.

The government says it is reviewing whether to use vaccine certificates and “no decisions have been taken”.

The UK equality watchdog says passports could create a “two-tier society”.

The church leaders go so far as to say that introducing the passports would create a “medical apartheid”.

“This scheme has the potential to bring about the end of liberal democracy as we know it and to create a surveillance state in which the government uses technology to control certain aspects of citizens’ lives,” the letter said.

“As such, this constitutes one of the most dangerous policy proposals ever to be made in the history of British politics.”

The church leaders said that, regardless of the government’s final decision, they would not refuse entry to their churches to anybody without a vaccine passport – or any other certificate which they have labelled “proof of health”.