Sadiq Khan criticises government plan to scrap mandatory face masks on public transport
6 July 2021, 16:13 | Updated: 6 July 2021, 18:28
Sadiq Khan on plan to scrap mandatory face masks on public transport
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he is "unhappy" at being unable to convince the government to keep face masks on public transport mandatory.
The Prime Minister has said that the wearing of face masks and the one-metre social distancing rule will not be legally required after step four of unlocking - set for July 19.
If so-called 'Freedom Day' goes ahead on July 19, the public will be permitted to meet indoors and outdoors in groups of any size.
Mr Khan said: "I'm unhappy that we've been unsuccessful in lobbying the government to keep face masks on public transport mandatory.
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"Why do I say that? For a number of reasons. Firstly, we do know that wearing a face mask limits the chances of you passing the virus on if you have it and we also know that one out of three people who have the virus don't show symptoms.
"Secondly, we also know it increases public confidence in using public transport and we do want more people using public transport coming to the centre of our city."
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