So much for one metre plus! Boris Johnson will gather his Cabinet in person for the first time since MARCH tomorrow as No10 confirms ministers will sit just one metre apart WITHOUT masks
- Ministers will meet in a large room in the palatial Foreign Office building
- It will be the first full meeting since March 17, with Zoom used subsequentially
- Ministers will have to wash their hands and will be given individual water jugs
Boris Johnson will summon his Cabinet for a face-to-face meeting for the first time in four-and-a-half months tomorrow – and ministers will not be forced to wear facemasks.
The regular weekly meeting chaired by the Prime Minister will take place in a large room at the Foreign Office in the morning to allow ministers to sit at least one metre apart.
But while they will be told to wash their hands at the start and end of the meeting, and be given individual water jugs and classes to prevent contamination, Downing Street said today it is ‘not expecting’ them to wear face coverings.
This is despite the Government’s own guidelines stating that people working together should be ‘wearing face coverings when distances of two metres cannot be kept in indoor environments where possible’.
Downing Street said Mr Johnson wanted to set an example to workers after last week unveiling a timetable to further ease the lockdown and scale back working from home.
He lifted restrictions on using public transport and workers will be encouraged to resume their normal commutes in August, in a bid to breathe live back into retail and hospitality firms.
The last time the Cabinet met in person was on March 17, before the lockdown began. Mr Johnson has since met ministers remotely using video conferencing equipment.
His official spokesman told reporters today: ‘As we move forward with the coronavirus recovery and more people return to work in person, the PM felt that it was right for the Cabinet to come together and have a face-to-face meeting.
The regular weekly meeting chaired by the Prime Minister (pictured today) will take place in a large room at the Foreign Office to allow ministers to sit at least one metre apart
The last time the Cabinet met in person was on March 17, before the lockdown began
Mr Johnson has since met ministers remotely using video conferencing equipment including Zoom
Boris Johnson has ordered his cabinet into a large room in the Foreign Office where they can conduct the business of government while keeping well apart
‘Essentially we will be following all the Covid-secure guidance we set out for businesses when they are considering having this kind of meeting.’
Asked whether ministers would be wearing face coverings, he added: ‘I’m not expecting so.’
He added: ‘It is a large room that has been chosen in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and it will be properly ventilated and in terms of the steps which are being taken there will be a supply of hand sanitiser and members of the Cabinet will have individual water jugs and glasses and they will be socially distanced. So that will be to a minimum of one metre.’
Usually, Ministers are crammed around the famous coffin-shaped table in 10 Downing Street, but on Tuesday morning they will use the vast Locarno Suite of the Foreign Office, which will be converted into a temporary Cabinet Room.
Nicknamed the ‘drawing room of the nation’, the ornate gold-painted staterooms usually play host to visiting world leaders, but will house Mr Johnson’s 26-strong team until the Covid-19 crisis is over.
It came as Mr Johnson’s Government came under fire over its ‘illogical’ advice on face coverings, with scientists urging ministers to make them compulsory at work as well as on public transport.
Mr Johnson set out at a briefing on Friday his timetable for the further loosening of coronavirus restrictions as he said he hopes the UK will be back to something close to normal by Christmas.
Sir Patrick and Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, were both notably absent from the PM’s press conference, in a move which further ignited speculation of a worsening split between ministers and their experts.
Appearing before MPs on Thursday Sir Patrick said there is ‘absolutely no reason’ to change the current work from home guidance.
He said the UK is ‘still at a time when distancing measures are important’ and that working remotely ‘remains a perfectly good option’.
He then went even further as he said many companies had found working from home had not been ‘detrimental to productivity’ and as a result there is no need to move away from the policy.