RISHI Sunak has refused to say whether he will wear a mask again in the House of Commons, despite the Health Secretary saying MPs should set an example.
The Chancellor said he would wear a mask on a “crowded train” but would not commit to doing it in the crowded parliamentary chamber.
Some Tory MPs see wearing masks in the Commons as awkward for the Government, given Boris Johnson’s pledge to avoid another lockdown.
Warning UK Covid cases could double to 100,000 per day, Health Secretary Sajid Javid was last week asked if Tory MPs declining to wear masks sent mixed messages.
He said it was a “very fair point”, adding: “We’ve all got our role to play in this”.
However Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg later poured cold water on the idea, saying Tory MPs didn’t need to mask up in the Commons because they “know each other”.
Suggested MPs in other parties didn’t like “mixing” as much, he said: “We on this side have a more convivial, fraternal spirit.”
Asked if he would start to wear a mask again in the Commons, Mr Sunak repeatedly failed to give a direct answer.
He said: “I think every workplace is slightly different and people are going to make the decisions that are right for them.
“I do wear a mask, depending on the circumstances and the settings that I’m in. I was at a funeral last week where of course we were wearing masks.”
Pressed on showing leadership by mask wearing in a very crowded the Commons, he said: “The Government guidance is for people to make decisions based on what they think is appropriate for the circumstances that they're in.
"Every workplace is going to be different, depending on how many people are there, how long you’re there for, whether you know the people or not.
"That is all part of the Government guidance.”
Asked about Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments and whether a “convivial, fraternal spirit” gave people immunity from coronavirus, the Chancellor said: “I think people are going to make the decisions they think are the most responsible.
"For example, if I’m in a crowded train carriage, I would be wearing a mask. People will make the right judgments depending on the setting that they’re in.”
Mr Sunak also said the UK Government was not planning a move to “Plan B” on Covid - a return to mask rules and more home-working - but was not ruling it out as winter progressed.
He said: We’re monitoring everything, but at the moment the data does not suggest that we should be immediately moving to Plan B, but of course we will keep an eye on that and the plans are ready.”
However an expert adviser to ministers warned vaccination alone was not enough to bring current infection rates under control.
Professor Adam Finn, who is on the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), warned against complacency in what he said was a “worsening” situation.
He said people need to be testing themselves, wearing masks and avoiding crowds in enclosed spaces in order to prevent “a real meltdown”.
Prof Finn said that while vaccines were very effective at stopping people from getting seriously ill, they were less so at stopping infections or stopping the virus from spreading.
He told Sky News: “They do have an effect on that, but they’re not by themselves going to be enough at the present time to keep the spread of the virus under control.
“And we do need to see people continuing to make efforts to avoid contact, to avoid transmission, and to do other things as well as get vaccinated if we’re going to stop this rise from going up further.
“I would like to re-emphasise the fact that the vaccine programme by itself, in the current situation, even if things go optimally, is not, in my opinion, enough to bring things under control.
“We do need to have people using lateral flow tests, avoiding contact with large numbers of people in enclosed spaces, using masks, all of those things now need to happen if we’re going to stop this rise and get things under control soon enough to stop a real meltdown in the middle of the winter.”
Another Government adviser, Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said case numbers and death rates were currently “unacceptable”.
He told BBC Breakfast on Sunday that measures such as working from home and mask-wearing were “so important” as part of efforts to control the spread of Covid.
He advised people to “take matters into your own hands”, adding: “Don’t wait necessarily for Government policy.”
UK Vaccines minister Maggie Throup said Plan A was “working” and “where we need to be”.
She told LBC: “The public has been very patient in doing what we’ve asked them to do.
“And I think Plan A has actually opened up people’s lives and that’s so important because if we do need to take further measures I’m sure they’ll have appreciated exactly the freedoms we’ve been able to offer them at this time.
“Plan A is working, as I said, the data right now shows that Plan A is working.”
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