'Can I ask (you) when Conservative backbenchers will start wearing their masks?'
A number of Tory MPs appeared without face masks in the House of Commons yesterday, even after the health secretary Sajid Javid announced mandatory face mask wearing for the rest of the public.
In a bid to combat a rise in the spread of infections and to take precautions against the Omicron variant, face coverings will be compulsory on public transport and in shops in England as of today.
Yet some Tory MPs still refuse to wear one in the Commons chamber despite being urged even last month by the health secretary to do so and to set an example. Javid has previously appealed to the public to wear masks in enclosed spaces.
Responding to a statement by Health Secretary Sajid Javid, shadow Health Minister Rosena Allin-Khan said: “We support the decision to introduce masks on public transport and in shops, but we believe this should never have been abandoned in the first place.
“Can I ask (you) when Conservative backbenchers will start wearing their masks?”
Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke, who was not wearing a mask, could be heard shouting: “When we have to.”
Dr Allin-Khan also took to Twitter to point out Tory hypocrisy. She said: “As the Health Secretary announces mandatory face mask wearing for the public, his backbenchers still refuse to wear them”, alongside a picture of the health secretary making an announcement with a number of maskless Tory MPs behind him.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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