Jeremy Vine clashes with caller on not wearing face masks
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This afternoon Boris Johnson will outline his plans for Stage 4 of his roadmap out of lockdown. He is expected to confirm most legal restrictions, including the compulsory wearing of face masks in indoor public spaces, will be scrapped from July 19.
The announcement will be made in a televised coronavirus press conference as the Prime Minister outlines the findings of the Government’s social distancing review.
While England is likely to see an end to face masks in public spaces in just a fortnight’s time, the Mayor of London is expected to remain stubborn on the matter for Londoners.
As the Chair of Transport for London, the Labour politician has the right to impost the rules and bylaws for travel on the London underground and bus network.
He could still insist impose face masks on the capital when using the service for months to come.
A spokesman for the Mayor said: “It is important that we continue to follow the science around the extent to which they limit transmission on transport and in busy indoor spaces.
“Evidence shows that the wearing of face masks gives many Londoners the confidence that they can travel safely on public transport.
“People feeling confident they can travel on our tubes, buses and trains as they get busier will be a vital part of encouraging more people into central London as restrictions are lifted further, and it is something that we will continue to look at closely.”
Polling shows a majority of Londoners say they would be uncomfortable using the tube if face masks are not required.
A survey by Transport Focus and London TravelWatch last month found 62 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t use public transport unless passengers were required to wear face coverings.
Emma Gibson, director of London Travelwatch, said: “Nearly two-thirds of people say that they won’t use public transport in London unless people are wearing face coverings.
“And over 40 percent said that they would continue to wear a face-covering on public transport, even if they didn’t have to.
“This shows that along with social distancing, wearing face coverings is a really important factor for many people to feel safe on public transport.”
Mr Johnson’s decision to ditch face masks comes as the Government moves towards a new approach to tackling the virus.
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With 86 percent of the population having had at least one Covid jab, and 63.8 percent having a second, ministers want to remove legal restrictions and place more onus on individual responsibility.
Going forward it will be up for Britons to assess the risk for themselves and make a personal decision on whether to still wear a face mask.
Scientists have expressed unease at the plan with many saying it is too early to remove face coverings.
Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation which advises the Government on its vaccines policy, yesterday admitted he had no plans to stop wearing his mask.
Speaking to Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Professor Finn said: “Well, on a personal level, I shall certainly be continuing to wear a mask if I have got any symptoms or if I am in an enclosed space with lots of other people for a prolonged period of time, indefinitely in fact, because I’ve learnt that by doing that, I can reduce the risk of transmission.
“As paediatricians, we learn that we can avoid massive problems with children getting sick in the winter by doing these kind of measures, we certainly didn’t see the epidemic of respiratory viruses last winter that we’ve seen every year throughout my career.
“I actually now completely understand it whereas I didn’t before when I saw Asian people on the tube wearing masks in the pre-pandemic era, so I think mask-wearing is obviously something extremely valuable to do under certain circumstances.
“It doesn’t mean I will wear a mask all of the time but it does mean I will some of the time.”
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