Police and transport officers have fined just 59 people after speaking to 18,500 for not wearing masks on public transport, Sadiq Khan has revealed as he claimed he hasn’t spoken to the Prime Minister since May.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the Mayor of London claimed he hadn’t spoken to Boris Johnson since a Cobra meeting on May 10.
The two figures met several times at Cobra meetings in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, but there has been no contact since lockdown measures were first eased in England.
City Hall explained the pair usually only meet at Cobra meetings, but a spokesman for the mayor said: ‘In times of crisis you would expect to have a closer working relationship.’
The revelation came a day after the government announced it would be compulsory to wear face masks in shops and supermarkets from next week.
Boris Johnson met with London Ambulance Service paramedics on Monday, but has not seen the Mayor of London for more than two months
Mr Khan said: ‘One of my concerns is that it’s led to some poor decision-making some of the decisions and policy that PM has can’t be properly tested in a private space where there can be candor.
‘That leads to group thinking which I think has led to some poor decision making.’
Mr Khan said he had lobbied the PM on occasions since they last met, more than two months ago.
He added: ‘My concern isn’t because of vanity, it’s because I’m the mayor of a city with more than 9million people.
‘It’s for the Prime Minister to explain why that is, I hope its’s not because he’s playing petty party politics.
Commuters on the Central Line this morning were wearing face coverings as they travelled through London
‘Our population is greater than Scotland and Wales put together and some, but also we’ve got four airports serving our city, we’ve got the Eurostar serving our city, we contribute between a quarter and a third of our country’s wealth.
‘If the government is keen for a recovery to be successful they’ve really got to be working with us because it’s got to be a team effort.’
It’s understood the PM has not spoken with Wales First Minister since May 28.
He told LBC last week: ‘We’ve had contact through the Cabinet Office with the UK government and when it happens it’s helpful. Downing Street itself? No I have not had a meeting with the Prime Minister since the 28th of May.’
Mr Khan’s comments came ahead of new rules, starting from next Friday, that will make it mandatory to wear face masks in shops and supermarkets – but Mr Khan revealed that just 59 people had been fined for not following similar rules on board public transport in the capital.
Mr Khan told presenters Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway: ‘On public transport we’ve had to issue very few fines, only 59, but a combination of British Transport Police and Transport for London enforce officers have encouraged people to wear face coverings.
‘The good news is during rush hour more than 90 per cent of commuters are wearing face coverings.
‘I’m hoping that police won’t be required to issue lots of fines I hope customers will realise “me wearing a face mask makes you safe, you wearing a face mask makes me safe”.’
The government made it mandatory to wear face coverings on public transport from June 15.
Most commuters on the Central Line were wearing some kind of covering this morning, but there are still passengers travelling with their mouths and noses exposed.
Police appeared to step up patrols on face masks, with a large presence of officers spotted near Westminster Tube station being reported by commuters on Tuesday morning.
Sadiq Khan said around 90 per cent of passengers are wearing some kind of covering on their face, but some are still choosing not to. Exemptions are in place for children and people with certain physical or mental health conditions
Sadiq Khan revealed just 59 people had been fined on London’s public transport for failing to wear face coverings, while also revealing he hadn’t spoken to the Prime Minister since May 10
Shoppers who fail to comply with new rules from July 24 risk fines of £100 under the plans to stop a second wave of coronavirus.
Retailers will be asked to advise customers to wear masks but their staff will not be expected to enforce the law. Instead, police will be given powers to dish out fines.
Only young children or those with certain disabilities will be exempt from the new regulations.
Mr Khan said he didn’t want to see members of the public ‘taking the law into their own hands’.
He said: ‘What we don’t want is unfair peer pressure where its unjustified for example; children under 11, people with breathing problems people who may have some mental health issues so its really important that we are respectful of the reason why not 100 per cent of people are wearing face coverings.
‘Don’t be alarmed at this new rule, I wish it was being brought in today rather than next Friday, this will help all of is be safer and could prevent a second wave that could have led to a second lockdown, which none of us want.’
Some people are still not wearing face masks on London’s public transport, ahead of new rules that will make it compulsory to wear coverings in shops and indoor spaces from next Friday
Last month, a furious Boris Johnson took a swipe at the Sadiq Khan after a statue of Sir Winston Churchill, which was defaced during Black Lives Matter protests, was boarded up.
The PM blasted ‘absurd and shameful’ attacks on the statue of Sir Winston Churchill and said the UK ‘cannot lie about its history’ as Sadiq Khan was accused of ‘surrendering’ the capital’s streets ‘to the mob’ after he ordered the boarding up of the monument to Britain’s greatest prime minister and the nearby Cenotaph.
In an extraordinary Twitter outburst, Mr Johnson has slammed those who want to topple the Churchill statue and said: ‘The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny’.
He added: ‘It is absurd and shameful that this national monument should today be at risk of attack by violent protestors. Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial’.
While Mr Johnson didn’t mention Sadiq Khan in his tweets, they were sent after a phalanx of Tory MPs slammed the Mayor of London for boarding up monuments instead of using police officers to form a ring of steel around them and arrest anyone who tries to attack them.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show it cost £10,147 to put a hoarding around the statue of Churchill.
A further £21,115 was spent on protecting statues of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
The GLA said it cost £3,050 to remove graffiti in Parliament and Trafalgar squares.
Churchill’s statue was boxed up on June 12 but the boarding was removed six days later ahead of a visit by French president Emmanuel Macron.