Are Tory ministers competing to be the most populist and libertarian in the face scientific and medical advice and evidence? We have Jacob Rees Moggs snarky nonsense about the Tories needing masks to prevent the spread of Covid.
Gillian Keegan (Care minister), bizarrely stated that masking is virtue signalling. It should be left to the individual to choose. 22 October: Tory minister says face-masks shouldn't be considered a sign for virtue. This could be mildly funny if not for the gravely dangerous consequences of ignorant nonsense.
Would they have agreed to wear seatbelts and crash helmets?
Dr Karen Postle
Titchfield (Hampshire).
It is a sad reality that virtue has been abused and castigated in this Orwellian world. My Chambers dictionary defines virtue as excellence, worth, moral excellence, the practice of duty, and all other good qualities. Gillian Keegan claims she only wears a mask when the person in front of her is wearing one, as they are concerned about their own safety. They are concerned about spreading Covid, as only medical-grade masks can provide much protection.
Susannah Kipling
Holt, Dorset
Gillian Keegan stated that it wasn't very comfortable to sit in a mask for long periods of time. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, I have had to wear masks at work. They aren't very comfortable, especially when you have to run around all day on your feet (in a physically demanding job), but they protect others.
Emma Blashford-Snell
Nurse, Yeovil district hospital
Sajid Javid declared Monday morning that he would wear a mask to parliament for the budget speech. It is likely that he has accepted expert advice that he is protecting himself and others from contracting Covid-19 by wearing a mask in parliament. But will the health secretary recommend, let alone demand, that his colleagues in parliament and, thereby, all of us, do so for the same reasons as him? He won't. Why? Because he is a prisoner to the bizarre political ideology expressed by the Rees Moggs of this universe. What a government! What a joke!
Mike Terry
Ettington, Warwickshire
Rishi Sunak wears a mask in other situations, like crowded trains. Sunak, however, refuses to wear masks in crowded Commons. It's hard to imagine him in a crowded train.
Rosemary Gill
Salisbury in Wiltshire
I am in London visiting my family and am shocked, horrified, and scared by the behavior of the British public. Even though there are constant exhortations to wear masks, every bus and underground train that I have been on has a shockingly high number of maskless passengers. Many of the people here seem so childlike they can't act in a safe and responsible way without Boris, their nanny. If people ask me if it is okay to travel to this country, my answer is no. It's not safe at the moment. The children aren't behaving well and the nanny is away on vacation.
Christine Gallagher
Ventura, California
