Covid: Boris Johnson insists he wears a face covering whenever rules require it

PM has been repeatedly slated for appearing without a mask

Boris Johnson and David Attenborough at the Cop26 UN Climate Change Conference (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson has defended his record on wearing face coverings, insisting: “I wear a mask wherever the rules say that I should”.

The prime minister has come under attack recently for appearing without a mask when sat alongside 95-year-old Sir David Attenborough at the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow and when visiting a Northumberland hospital.

Health officials said the PM had worn a mask for “the majority” of his visit to Hexham General Hospital earlier this month, but confirmed he had to be reminded to put it back on.

Challenged over the incidents during a Downing Street press conference today, Mr Johnson denied flouting the rules.

“I wear a mask wherever the rules say that I should and I urge everybody else to do the same,” said the PM.

“People will actually have seen me wearing face coverings quite a bit more regularly recently, as we’ve seen the the numbers ticking up in in the UK. I think that’s the responsible thing to do and I’m going to continue to do that.”

But he stressed that, under the government’s Plan A on dealing with coronavirus during the autumn and winter months, mask-wearing is now a matter of personal responsibility rather than a legal requirement.

“We’re going to continue with our approach, which is to rely on people’s common sense, people’s sense of personal responsibility to themselves and to others,” he said.

“But clearly, in confined spaces where you’re meeting people that you don’t normally meet, you should wear a face covering. That’s the advice we’re giving.”

Mr Johnson has previously described his decision not to wear a covering when sat by the masked Attenborough as a “judgement call” of the kind which people have to take on whether they are at a reasonable distance from others and whether they are with people they don’t normally meet.