Andrew Lilico

The problems with Boris Johnson’s mask mandate

Boris Johnson (photo: Getty)

Today the government has said that for the next three weeks it will be mandatory to wear masks in shops and on public transport, pending a review.

It was already mandatory to wear a mask on the tube, as a condition of travel. So to avoid mixing up ideas, let’s focus on the new mandate from the government: that people will have to wear masks in shops. Imposing a requirement that anyone entering a shop must wear a mask, whether the shop wants to accept them or not, is a straightforward imposition on human liberty.

We have accepted huge infringements upon our liberties over the past 21 months. We did so initially because there was an emergency situation, with a risk that the health service would be swamped, leading to hundreds of thousands of people dying unnecessarily for simple lack of treatment. Later we did so to buy time for the vulnerable to be vaccinated. These restrictions were then phased out gradually over a few months. Perhaps the phasing out was a bit slower than necessary, but the basic concept of a phasing out period was not in itself illegitimate.

Now, however, there is no longer an emergency. As Chris Whitty himself said in today’s press conference, the only group of people which are seeing cases rising are small children (specifically, this is the under-10s). Cases amongst the elderly are falling (as the effects of boosters kick in) and cases amongst the rest of the population are essentially flat (and have been since early August). It is realistically no longer possible for cases to rise exponentially for an extended period, as happened in February to March 2020 and in late 2020. And in particular not amongst older people at risk of being hospitalised by the disease. There is no longer even the remotest risk of the NHS being swamped.

It is not legitimate to restrict our liberties in this way ‘just in case’

Absent any emergency justification, the imposition on the public is simple tyranny.

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