MP apologises for ‘forgetting’ to wear mask on train

LONDON: A Tory MP and close ally of Boris Johnson said he “forgot” to put a face covering on after a picture emerged on social media of him travelling on a train without wearing one.

Danny Kruger, who was the Prime Minister’s former political secretary before his election as Devizes MP at the general election, has apologised after being caught without a mask while on the hour-long train journey to London. An eagle-eyed Twitter user posted a picture on September 19 of Kruger sitting at a train table wearing earphones, with the caption: “Don’t blame it on the young people Boris (Johnson) when your own party aren’t even following your rules.”

Kruger, David Cameron’s former speechwriter, said in a statement: “I boarded an almost empty carriage at Hungerford and quite simply forgot to put on my mask. When I got to Paddington I realised my mistake and covered up for the rest of my journey.“If the person had reminded me rather than taking a photo and posting it on social media I would of course have put on my mask then and there. I do apologise for my mistake.”

On September 7, less than a fortnight before his own memory slip, Kruger — a self-confessed “old friend” of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s de facto chief of staff who travelled more than 250 miles during the lockdown in April — told his constituents in a Facebook message that they “MUST wear a face covering” unless exempt. Great Western Railway, the train operator that runs the route between Hungerford and Paddington, warns passengers on its website that they face a £100 fine for failing to wear a face covering on its services.