London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Ministers accused of putting staff at risk by not wearing masks in Commons

Ministers accused of putting staff at risk by not wearing masks in Commons

Boris Johnson and most of his frontbench choose not to cover faces in packed parliamentary chamber

Cabinet ministers have been accused of undermining Covid advice and putting MPs’ and parliamentary staff’s safety at risk by declining to wear masks, as they packed the Commons chamber full to debate Afghanistan’s takeover by the Taliban.

Just two government frontbenchers chose to wear a face covering when parliament was recalled on Wednesday – the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, and the new security minister, Damian Hinds – despite official guidance recommending they are worn in “crowded and enclosed spaces”.

Ministers lifted the mandatory requirement for masks to be worn in most places on 19 July, instead allowing people to make their own decisions about whether and where to use them. However, the Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, has urged MPs to continue wearing masks in the chamber, although he has admitted he cannot force them to do so.

During the debate on the situation in Afghanistan, opposition Labour party MPs sat in parliament nearly all wearing face masks.


When Boris Johnson opened the debate about the collapse of the Afghan government he was without a mask, as were most of the other ministers sitting on the front green bench. The two who were masked were sitting on the end of the row close to Hoyle.

The sight of MPs rubbing shoulders was an unfamiliar sight for many Westminster watchers, as social distancing was only dropped a few days before parliament went into recess last month. There had previously been a capacity limit of 64 people in the chamber – but the first time this was notably exceeded was on Wednesday.

Among swathes of unmasked Conservatives, there were some other notable exceptions among the backbenchers: the former prime minister Theresa May, the head of the health select committee, Jeremy Hunt, and Dr Luke Evans.

All the Labour frontbenchers, including the party leader, Keir Starmer, and his deputy, Angela Rayner, wore masks.

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect union, which represents many parliamentary staffers, said it was frustrating so many Conservative MPs “chose to ignore the Speaker’s very clear advice about wearing masks in an enclosed space”.

He added: “Not only does this show huge disrespect to the Speaker, it demonstrates contempt for the safety of their colleagues and the many staff attending the packed chamber who are required to wear masks.

“It is abundantly clear that large numbers of MPs believe that rules simply don’t apply to them, and are comfortable with recklessly undermining public health messaging.

“With the Commons set to resume full-time in just a few weeks, it is time to rethink the light-touch approach to mask wearing in the chamber. It has demonstrably failed, and more rigorous enforcement must be considered.”

Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), tweeted that it was “sad and regrettable when an issue such as wearing of masks becomes a party political issue”.

A House of Commons spokesperson said: “Our priority is to ensure a safe and functioning parliament in line with government regulations.

“Passholders should continue to exercise caution when they are on the estate and we will, of course, monitor the situation from day to day.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×