They tell us to wear masks but can’t say why

AS THE cry goes out again for masks to be compulsory all over the place, I learn of a Freedom of Information request made in July 2020 to the Department for Transport when they first decreed the wearing of face coverings.

Dr Alan Black asked if the Ministry could name the peer-reviewed study which justified this. The Ministry answered that this task would cause ‘disproportionate’ disruption to their work. Odd. Surely if they had used such a study, wouldn’t they know where to find it?

Dr Black fought on. Eventually, almost a year later, after the Information Commissioner got involved, officials admitted that the Department ‘does not hold the information that you requested’. So what was the decree based on?

Bear this in mind as you listen to the renewed calls for masking. One of the loudest came last week from that notable figure Matthew Taylor. Matthew, an old opponent of mine, is now chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which you might assume was because he was a distinguished doctor or scientist, or some titan of industry now nobly toiling in the state sector for the public good. In fact Matthew, son of the exotic Leftist sociologist Laurie Taylor, is a former Blairite functionary and apparatchik. He was also once the commander of a Left-wing think-tank, before becoming head of the Royal Society of Arts, a body which used to set shorthand exams but whose current purpose is a bit vague. He has degrees in sociology and industrial relations.

This is the great thing about being on the winning side. You don’t need to be an expert, and nobody minds.