Why You DO NOT Have to Wear a Mask in UK Shops

We have been asked to provide our UK readers with advice regarding how to legally refuse to wear a mask in any public spaces, public transport, shops, etc. The anti-science mask mandate was recently imposed on citizens by politicians claiming it is necessary to fight the COVID19 pandemic.

In the simplest terms possible, the legal position in England and Wales is that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WEAR A MASK. The Government has issued a “guideline” only. This is NOT A LAW. You DO NOT have to comply if you believe it is not in the best interest of your health to do so.

The guidelines appear on the official gov.uk website under the heading, ‘When you do not need to wear a face covering’ The link is here:

www.gov.uk/government

For protecting your rights, the section of law that most pertains to this issue is The Equality Act 2010. This Act gives you the right to refuse to wear a mask if you believe you have a reasonable excuse, which includes (but is not limited to):

a physical difficulty, a mental illness or impairment, or disability or you simply believe that wearing a mask will cause you severe distress.

When entering any shop or on public transport where someone challenges you for not wearing a face mask simply reply: “I am medically exempt” and that is all the law requires of you.

However, if you are further challenged……

Cite THE EQUALITY ACT (2010) which says you DO NOT have to provide ANY details of your medical exemption (see: Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010(1))

MOREOVER:

The legislation, as written, does not require an exempt person to prove their exemption in order for it to be valid. The government’s own guidelines discourage shopkeepers (etc.) from asking for proof.

BUT IF YOU ARE CHALLENGED, YOU HAVE FOLLOWING OPTIONS:

Option One

The Equality Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Quote section 112 and  section 119 of the Equality Act (2010) and inform whoever is making demands that they risk a fine of up to £5,000 plus compensation costs to you.

Option Two

Ask the person challenging you to provide you with a copy of the ‘bio security order’ or the ‘public health order’ which specifically permits that named individual to stop and challenge you. Ask them “do you claim to be an authorised officer under the public health and wellbeing act”, if they say “yes” then tell them “I require a copy of your instrument of delegation” if they can’t provide this they are impersonating a health officer and that is a CRIME.

Option Three

Ask them are they willing to sign a LIABILITY notice and accept FULL LIABILITY for any physical or mental health problems brought on by you wearing a mask while on their premises (shop, etc)

If they put you under duress to comply they are committing a CRIME so make sure you are recording the altercation. It is not against the law to film somebody as this is your evidence of them committing a CRIME.

Exemption cards

Those who have an age, health or disability reason for not wearing a face covering should not be routinely asked to

give any written evidence of this, this includes exemption cards (example, right).

No person needs to seek advice or request a letter from a medical professional about their reason for not wearing a face covering.

Some people may feel more comfortable showing something that says they do not have to wear a face covering. This could be in the form of an exemption card, badge or even a home-made sign.

This is a personal choice and is not necessary in law.

Access exemption card templates

For exemptions in different parts of the UK please refer to the specific guidance for Northern IrelandScotland and Wales.


About the author: John O’Sullivan John is CEO and co-founder (with Dr Tim Ball) of Principia Scientific International (PSI).  John is a seasoned science writer and legal analyst who assisted Dr Ball in defeating world leading climate expert, Michael ‘hockey stick’ Mann in the ‘science trial of the century‘. O’Sullivan is credited as the visionary who formed the original ‘Slayers’ group of scientists in 2010 who then collaborated in creating the world’s first full-volume debunk of the greenhouse gas theory plus their new follow-up book.

PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX. 

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Comments (17)

  • Avatar

    John Nicol

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    I am amazed by this article – first that anything so unscientific could be written by John O’Sullivan for whom I have a great respect and secondly that anyone would believe that wearing a mask is not a useful way of isolating a lot of moisture and viruses from moving between people. It has been shown by careful experimentation by engineers, that IN FACT a mask provides protection for 70% to 90% of transmission through the intervening air between pairs of people. If everyone had been FORCED to wear a mask everywhere, not only in shops but certainly in closed spaces such as shops, there would probably be very little cross infection of the magnitude we have observed.

    Reply

    • Avatar

      Josh

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      Relax John. Cross infection happened. It’s in the past. And because of it, the pandemic is over. There’s no longer any reason to wear masks because herd immunity has been achieved in the UK. Rises in cases they’re using to justify mask orders are a scam. The hospitals are not overrun. There are very few deaths. It’s time to ditch this “new abnormal” and go back to being free humans again.

      Reply

      • Avatar

        Dr Roger Higgs

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        Spot-on, Josh, thank you.

        Covid, initially alarming because it accelerated the deaths of large numbers (though a minuscule percentage) of already-ill people (mostly old and overweight), has morphed into a scam. It’s now all about …

        (A) money (the vaccine) in the $$trillions and

        (B) control. The WHO is an agency of the globalist United Nations, as is the IPCC, infamous proponents of that other mega-fraud, ‘man-made’ global warming ….

        https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341622566

        The New World Order is no longer a conspiracy ‘theory’; it’s a very obvious conspiracy. A globalist cabal with unlimited financial power (we all know who) controls the UN, world banking, the MSM and Facebook (governing what we read, hear and think), and western politics, including the unelected EU leadership, obviously. The cabal aims to rule a nationless world of compliant mixed-race people.

        Reply

        • Avatar

          Andy Rowlands

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          Very well said Dr Higgs.

          Reply

    • Avatar

      Hivemind

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      Face masks would work great if the gaps between threads weren’t thousands of times larger than the size of the virus particles they need to stop. Even the best ones, N95 surgical masks, only stop 95% of bacteria. Nobody claims that they will stop a virus.

      Reply

    • Avatar

      Carbon Bigfoot

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      I’m a Professional Engineer in the States. Every paper I’ve seen suggest the contrary. If you make an allegation of impropriety show us YOUR EVIDENCE. Otherwise keep your mouth shut.

      Reply

    • Avatar

      John O'Sullivan

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      John Nicol, the article addresses the legal implications. It is silent on the merits or otherwise of the science. The law in the UK is very clear. It is stated above. Your misguided comment about compulsory mask wearing will cause more suffering and death than the alleged SARS-COV2 virus.

      Reply

    • Avatar

      richard

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      Studies on the effectiveness of face masks
      So far, most studies found little to no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth face masks in the general population, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control.

      A May 2020 meta-study on pandemic influenza published by the US CDC found that face masks had no effect, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control. (Source)
      A July 2020 review by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medince found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth masks against virus infection or transmission. (Source)
      A Covid-19 cross-country study by the University of East Anglia found that a mask requirement was of no benefit and could even increase the risk of infection. (Source)
      An April 2020 review by two US professors in respiratory and infectious disease from the University of Illinois concluded that face masks have no effect in everyday life, neither as self-protection nor to protect third parties (so-called source control). (Source)
      An article in the New England Journal of Medicine from May 2020 came to the conclusion that cloth face masks offer little to no protection in everyday life. (Source)
      An April 2020 Cochrane review (preprint) found that face masks in the general population or health care workers didn’t reduce influenza-like illness (ILI) cases. (Source)
      An April 2020 review by the Norwich School of Medicine (preprint) found that “the evidence is not sufficiently strong to support widespread use of facemasks”, but supports the use of masks by “particularly vulnerable individuals when in transient higher risk situations.” (Source)
      A July 2020 study by Japanese researchers found that cloth masks “offer zero protection against coronavirus” due to their large pore size and generally poor fit. (Source)
      A 2015 study in the British Medical Journal BMJ Open found that cloth masks were penetrated by 97% of particles and may increase infection risk by retaining moisture or repeated use. (Source)
      An August 2020 review by a German professor in virology, epidemiology and hygiene found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth face masks and the improper daily use of masks by the public may in fact lead to numerous additional infections. (Source)

      Reply

  • Avatar

    Andy Rowlands

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    Excellent info and advice John, thanks very much!

    Reply

    • Avatar

      John O'Sullivan

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      Cheers, Andy

      Reply

      • Avatar

        richard

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        I have downloaded the exemption card and use it in most places without a problem.

        Reply

  • Avatar

    Dev

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    Flu has and continues to fall within range of the past 5 yr average with no deviation.
    If masks or any of the other measures had any merit then this would not be the case and we would have seen a decline.
    There has never been a reason to wear a mask or socially distance or lock down.
    The current death rate is below average.
    There is no crisis and no need for a solution to a non existent problem
    Thanks for the article John. Sane advice.

    Reply

  • Avatar

    Christian Loosli

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    Very good article, thanks! Clothmask should be washed at 60° 30 min before use and changed often special when humide. Not so chirurgical cellulose mask. they are never steryle and can allready be contaminated with all kind of germs. As pictures showing from India. Mask lying on the floor. Employees getting regulary checked for covid or any sikness before handling with bare hands mask wile packing them? Spanish pharmacienne made swaps and found even on new mask contaminations, not to mention after wearing them for hours. So please let us fight for our freedom and health.

    Reply

  • Avatar

    John O'Sullivan

    |

    Christian, Thank you, agreed on all your points!

    Reply

  • Avatar

    Dean Michael Jackson

    |

    You mean rebreathing exhaled viruses, bacteria and fungi is good for the immune system? I was taught in high school, and ever since, that such exhalation is how the immune system remains healthy? Hmm…what happened to actual medical science?

    Inclusive, when one exhales, viruses, bacteria and fungi are not only being rebreathed(!), they fly upwards through the top opening in the mask to infect the eyes! That means we have a Satanic political establishment carrying out Marx’s directive for the “abolition of religion”, and the destruction of those civilizations “whose spiritual aroma is religion”:

    Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Karl Marx (1843)

    https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/Marx_Critique_of_Hegels_Philosophy_of_Right.pdf

    “The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.”

    …and…

    “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.”

    …and…

    “It is, therefore, the task of history, once the other-world of truth has vanished, to establish the truth of this world.”

    Now you know what Marxists are referring to when they utter the phrase, “The Struggle”…

    “The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.”

    CHILDREN

    In the case of children who require 50% more oxygen, by body mass, than adults, the Satanic nature of the evil becomes 100x more palpable. In the years to come cognitive and physical development will be severely diminished, concomitant with multiple system-wide cancers due to cell division disruptions caused by oxygen depletion.

    At my blog, read the articles…

    ‘The Marxist ‘Gender Pay Gap’ – Class Struggle Meets Gender Struggle: Females Earn More Than Their Equally Matched Male Counterparts’

    ‘House of Cards: The Collapse of the ‘Collapse’ of the USSR’

    ‘Playing Hide And Seek In Yugoslavia’

    Then read the article, ‘The Marxist Co-Option Of History And The Use Of The Scissors Strategy To Manipulate History Towards The Goal Of Marxist Liberation’

    Solution

    The West will form new political parties where candidates are vetted for Marxist ideology/blackmail, the use of the polygraph to be an important tool for such vetting. Then the West can finally liberate the globe of vanguard Communism.

    My blog…

    https://djdnotice.blogspot.com/2018/09/d-notice-articles-article-55-7418.html

    Reply

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