MP sparks mask debate in Rasen

Their comments come after Market Rasen MP Sir Edward Leigh slammed the plan, saying enforced wearing of face coverings did not make sense in Lincolnshire where Covid-19 infection rates are ‘quite low’.

Market Rasen Pet Centre owner Bridget Pitman-Brand agrees with Sir Edward and said she would not be refusing entry to any customers.

She said: “It [wearing a mask] should be down to personal choice for my customers.

“I’m certainly not going to police them and tell them ‘no mask, no entry’.

“We can’t afford to.

“I think the government is doing it because they think it will make people more comfortable going into shops, but I think it will have the opposite effect - it will make people claustrophobic.

“I’m personally not bothered but there’s a lot of people who feel they can’t do it.

“I’m certainly not going to turn anyone away.

“Especially here in Lincolnshire, we’ve been very, very fortunate [in relation to Covid-19 cases] - we’re a little market town.

“I don’t think any of us [shopkeepers] can afford to say ‘no, you’re not coming in’.

“And it’s not my job to police it.”

But Stitch Witch owner Gail Belinda Lee said: “I’m quite happy for my customers to wear masks and I shall wear a mask too.

“I will be following the law.

“I don’t know how I’m going to police it though, that’s the only thing that concerns me.”

Gail Belinda said she was ‘quite happy’ to ask customers to wear a mask, but said that was all she was happy to do.

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Linda Walton, who owns Wold Antiques in Queen Street, said she has concerns about security.

She said: “It’s a security issue [wearing masks] - we’ve had things stolen before.

“As much as someone coming in with a mask might just be shopping, if they’re not, my cameras aren’t going to pick anyone up.

“But if it keeps people safe, then yes, we’ve got to do it.

“We can’t break the law, but I’m not sure how they’re going to enforce it.

“Some people say it’s safer not to wear them.

“For me, if the government says I must wear one, I will.”

Linda said only around five per cent of her customers have worn face masks, in the four weeks she has been open 
since the lockdown restrictions were eased.

Owner of the Gift Horse, Sally White, said: “I don’t really know the pros and cons [of wearing a face mask], but we’ve got to do it.

“It might be a good idea.

“It might be difficult ensuring people have got them on.

“I’m just going with what they [the government] say.”

Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh criticised his own government’s plan to make face masks compulsory.

He said: “Our rate of infection is quite low in Lincolnshire.

“Enforced wearing of face masks might make sense in Leicester or other hot-spots, fair enough.

“But one-size-fits-all solutions need to face the scrutiny of democratically elected representatives.”

Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir Edward said: “May I make a controversial statement - that we live in a parliamentary democracy?

“As regards wearing face masks, I do not think that there will be time, because the order has not been laid, to 
have a debate.

“Surely the Leader of the House, indeed, the Government, in a matter as controversial as the enforced wearing of face masks from an increasingly authoritarian executive, know that there should be a debate here and a vote.

“After all, this is highly controversial and everybody in the country has a view. Up to 70 million people will be affected by it.

“Lincolnshire has an infection rate of 150 in 150,000, so we have natural social distancing anyway.

“Why can we not just have more democracy and less authoritarianism from this Government?”

Responding to Sir Edward, Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said: “My Right Hon. Friend is absolutely right; we are a parliamentary democracy. It is worth bearing in mind that the House passed the emergency legislation which provided the powers for these things.”