A GROUP of city council Conservatives have been criticised for the decision not to wear face masks at a meeting on Tuesday.

All legal Covid-19 restrictions, including on the use of face coverings indoors, were lifted the day before following step seven of Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown.

The Leader of Carlisle’s Labour Party Les Tickner and Green Party councillor Helen Davison stood up in a meeting of the full council on July 20 and criticised 10 Conservatives who chose not to wear a mask.

Councillor Les Tickner told the News & Star: “I think there’s been an instruction to them to show solidarity with Boris and not to wear them.”

He added that the Conservatives were the only group with councillors not wearing face masks.

Councillor Tickner described the conditions in Carlisle’s council chamber as “hot and sticky.”

“Either that party don’t care or they think everything is fine.”

Councillor Tickner added that some councillors put their face mask on after leaving the council chamber.

“This week we expected something like this as if there’s a push to make everyone think everything’s fine.”

“I wasn’t disappointed, I was angry. Angry that they felt it was okay to put the health of the other 35 Councillors, officers and members of the public in the chamber and the families they were going home to at risk unnecessarily to just to prove a point.

“Now a couple of them may have medical exemptions, I don’t know, and I did refer to this in my speech.

“Cases are increasing, daily deaths are increasing, hospital beds are filling with Covid-19 patients meaning routine operations are being cancelled.

Councillor Tickner said: “These facts do not seem to bother them.”

“Elected representatives should lead by example and display high levels of integrity. This was not the case. I thank the Labour members, Independents, Green, Lib Dem and the Conservatives that did wear their face masks.”

Deputy leader of Carlisle City Council’s Conservative Group Gareth Ellis, who was one of the councillors choosing not to wear a mask said: “I think they’re talking absolute nonsense.

“There’s no discussion with MPs, the PM didn’t personally call me and tell me not to wear a mask, some people are looking to make this a culture war issue.”

He added that there were councillors on both sides choosing not to wear them.

“We old our members that whatever decision they choose we would support them. I think everybody in that room was probably vaccinated months and months ago. There has to be a normality at some point.”

Responding to Councillor Tickner’s concerns around ventilation, the deputy leader said: “You could fly kites inside that’s how big it is, normally it could hold 100 people, on Tuesday it had maybe 40 all socially distanced.”