Not wearing face mask on Tube should be CRIMINAL offence says mayor

Not wearing a face mask on the Tube should be a CRIMINAL offence says Sadiq Khan as London Mayor says he is lobbying government to bring in by law to issue fixed penalty notices

Sadiq Khan has said that failing to wear a face mask on the Tube should become a criminal offence.

The London Mayor has been pushing the the government to allow Transport for London (TfL) to impose a bye-law requiring face coverings on the capital’s transport network.

Since the easing of restrictions on July 19 ‘Freedom Day’, passengers have only been required to wear a covering as a ‘condition of carriage’ rather than a legal requirement.

Sadiq Khan has said that failing to wear a face mask on the Tube should become a criminal offence

This means TfL staff can tell non-compliant customers to leave a bus or train but are powerless to impose fines. 

But Mr Khan now wants a bye-law put in place to effectively bring back the rule that was dropped on July 19.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast podcast Mr Khan said: ‘We are trying to lobby the Government to allow us to bring in a bye-law, so it will be the law again, so we can issue fixed penalty notices and we can use the police service and BTP to enforce this.’

‘We need people to be coming back to the West End. We want to encourage people to return to their offices. They are not going to do so if they don’t feel public transport is safe.

‘I’m hoping the Government understands, on the issue of public safety and public confidence, we want to be able to use the law to make sure people do wear face masks in spaces where you can’t keep your social distance for obvious reasons.’

Source: Read Full Article