Petition · past parliament

Reverse the law on face masks in England. Choice is a human right.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Revoke the new law on face masks being mandatory. If social distancing is the most effective method of fighting the virus then people should not be forced to wear masks. It is contradictory and will encourage people not to take notice of social distancing.
Over four months later is too late to make face masks in shops compulsory. If people are wearing masks, there'll be no need for social distancing. Dictating to people when we live in a democracy should be against the law. Laws need to make sense and this simply does not 4 months later.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign some of these petitions:

Don't make the wearing of face masks compulsory in public places in England: Don't make the wearing of face masks compulsory in public places in England

Repeal the decision to implement compulsory face coverings in English shops: Repeal the decision to implement compulsory face coverings in English shops.

Make the use of masks on public transport voluntary and not mandatory: Make the use of masks on public transport voluntary and not mandatory

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

Timeline

14 Jul 2020 Petition opened for signatures
21 Jul 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 21 Jul 2020

Follow this petition

Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.

Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.