Get a grip on masks

WHETHER facemasks in shops are compulsory is another area of confusion caused by this shambolic Government.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has cast doubt on the mandatory wearing of masks on retail premises, only days after the Prime Minister appeared to back the idea. This is dangerously contradictory.

Let the Government publish the scientific advice, then we can all decide whether it would be a good idea.

The United Kingdom is increasingly a Disunited Kingdom, with Scottish shops insisting masks must be worn while Wales doesn’t even demand them on buses and trains.

And even if masks are made compulsory in England’s shops, Usdaw union leader Paddy Lillis legitimately raises questions about how it would be enforced – when low-paid shop workers already suffer too much abuse.

We need certainty. The contortions of this Government are among the reasons why so many Britons have died of the virus.