Sadiq Khan has announced that masks will continue to be mandatory on all Transport for London services, including the tube, despite the government ending their legal mandate across the country from next Thursday. Surprise, surprise.

Despite the encouraging Omicron data, Sadiq said the “Government should rethink their plans and keep legislation in place”, and confirmed he won’t revoke them himself:

“If we have learnt anything from this pandemic, it is that we must not get complacent and undo all our hard work and sacrifices. That’s why face coverings will remain a condition of carriage on TfL services. I’m asking everyone in our capital to do the right thing and continue to wear a face covering when travelling on TfL services to keep us all protected and to prevent further restrictions from being necessary later down the line.”

In the wise words of Zarah Sultana, the mask debate is “purely ideological”…