Mask mandates were a mistake

Mask mandates were a mistake, will Rishi and Liz abandon this failed policy for good?

It was deeply concerning to see schools “strongly encouraging” children to wear face coverings before the summer break. Despite early hopes, we now know from the real world data that mask mandates had no significant effect on interrupting the spread of coronavirus. Meanwhile, the damaging unintended harms of covering our faces are profound and still being felt. The use of masks is not, and has never been, a benign or recommended public health intervention. 

Mask policies are creeping back into daily life in schools, healthcare settings and shopping centres, despite the many serious physical, psychological and environmental negative consequences of face coverings. Masks prolong anxieties and act as a barrier to returning fully to normal life, which must now be safeguarded after too many months of restrictions and disruption.

Individuals are free to make the informed personal choice to wear a face covering, but this should not be one imposed by the government or institutions with misplaced good intentions. We therefore, call upon the final two Conservative leadership candidates to rule out future mask mandates and in particular advise against their use for children and young people.  

Signed by:
Members of the APPG on Pandemic Response & Recovery
Co-Chair: Rt Hon Esther McVey MP
Co-Chair: Graham Stringer MP
Miriam Cates MP
Thomas Coke, the Earl of Leicester
Philip Davies MP
Baroness Foster of Oxton
Baroness Fox of Buckley
Chris Green MP
Lord Moylan
Greg Smith MP
Sammy Wilson MP

Other signatories:
Steve Baker MP
Sir Christopher Chope MP
Richard Drax MP
Sir Desmond Swayne MP