Drive on, Jeeves! Chauffeur-driven cars will be EXEMPT from new Covid rules forcing taxi passengers to wear face masks
Chauffeur-driven cars will be exempt from new coronavirus rules forcing taxi passengers to wear face masks, a Downing Street spokesman has revealed.
Passengers in licensed vehicles would have to wear coverings under new restrictions in England aimed at preventing a resurgence of Covid-19.
But No 10 said the measure, to come into force on Thursday, would not include passengers in chauffeur-driven cars, though the driver's employer would have to ensure they could work safely.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The employer of the chauffeur will have to make sure that their employees can work in a Covid-secure way.'
No 10 said rules asking passengers in licenses taxis to wear face coverings would not include passengers in chauffeur-driven cars, though the driver's employer would have to ensure they could work safely (file image)
But pressed if chauffeurs are covered by the new law, the spokesman said: 'The important point to make is the driver of a licensed vehicle will be picking up a wide variety of customers throughout the day but it's important to protect the driver from being infected from a significant number of different people.
'The scenario that you're describing, that person would only be a single individual around so I don't think they're comparable.'
The spokesman said he would check whether the rule applies to ministers being driven around in ministerial cars.
It comes as Number 10 was forced to clarify customers will be able to order food at the counter in McDonalds after Dominic Raab sparked mass confusion by saying it was banned.
Downing Street said a new law demanding people order and eat while seated at a table only applied to bars, pubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab suggested that fast food chains like McDonalds and coffee shops like Pret a Manger would have to rip up their systems and become table service only to stay open
It means that burger joints, other fast food and high street cafes will still be allowed to serve people who queue up at tills - but unless they are taking away they will have to sit down to eat or drink.
Mr Raab made his comments this morning after Boris Johnson announced last night a 'table-service only' policy to reduce the chance of people coming into close contact with others in queues.
Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on whether customers could queue for food and then sit down, Mr Raab said: 'My understanding is that you need to be able to order from the tables.'
But this afternoon the Prime Minister's official spokesman said the rules on table service applied to 'licensed premises'
High Street businesses are under huge pressure after Boris Johnson reintroduced working from home
Asked if this meant that you could 'walk into McDonalds, order your Big Mac, pick it up and then sit down' he replied: 'Correct. 'You have to sit down in order to eat it in order for that to follow the rules, but yes, the rules on table service apply to licensed premises .'
Ministers were met with a deluge of furious business owners for whom introducing table service would mean employing more staff and serving less customers. And the clarification prompted more anger over the mixed messages being put out.
Trade association UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said policy changes 'on a daily basis' and inconsistencies between devolved governments are leading to confusion for hospitality bosses, adding that they 'deserve better'.
She said: 'Our understanding is that quick-service restaurants will be exempt from the new rules, but there is certainly a degree of confusion.
Ministers last night released official documents online outlining how Boris Johnson's (pictured today) new lockdown measures would work. But there was confusion over their implementation this morning
'Businesses have been given next to no time to implement rules that have been introduced with no consultation from the industry and we are rushing around to try to interpret them. These restrictions are going to have a huge impact.'
Pret A Manger founder Julian Metcalfe blasted Mr Johnson's Tuesday night address, telling Radio 4 today: 'This man sitting down with his Union Jack talking utter nonsense ... to turn to an entire nation and say, stay at home for six months, and then to spout off some Churchillian nonsense that we'll make it through, it's terribly unhelpful.'