C for Chaos – VOID OF TRUTH – Sandwich shops and supermarkets.
Thu 12:13 pm +01:00, 16 Jul 2020Day three of mask chaos –
It’s possible Downing Street had missed whispers of an upcoming bungle of the ISC election amid the clamour over the Government’s policy on face masks and, inexplicably, Pret a Manger.
Yesterday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it would be mandatory to wear a mask in Pret, which he said was a shop rather than a restaurant, because it doesn’t offer table service.
But Boris Johnson’s spokesman then said the rules on masks would not apply in “sandwich shops”, and the Government’s guidelines applied to “supermarkets and other shops, rather than food shops”.
The debate arose after Michael Gove was pictured leaving a Pret a Manger without a face covering, after telling the country at the weekend that it was good manners to wear one.
Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, posted a photo of him in Pret wearing a face mask with a valve on it, rendering it useless. His staff denied that the photo had anything to do with distancing the ambitious Chancellor from a row now consuming several of his colleagues.
Cabinet ministers would do well to watch closely for lurking photographers next time they head out for a coffee or, better still, avoid Pret a Manger altogether and have lunch at their desks.
FRONT DESK
TAP – Come on Cummings. Go on an extended shopping trip unmasked on TV.
