AIBU to think face coverings in public should be banned?

Yes exactly. I wear a mask in the winter on the tube as I have low immunity. I get lots of colds in January onwards so I wear one to give myself some protection. I also don’t want to have to be off sick from work unnecessarily just for social cohesion purposes.

But you can’t define medical need in a way that’s fair either.
And the kids or thugs will just say “I’ve got a medical need”. Because there’s no way you can create a fair system that allows someone to be cleared as a medical need. And no one should have to prove a medical need anyway. No one is entitled to that private medical information.

If the problem is gangs of teenagers shoplifting then stop the gangs of teenagers shoplifting. I suggested that’s better done by providing upskilling and resources in the area - it’s your own logic that suggests you would think curfews are better. Because that’s the same level of draconian policing you are suggesting. You’re just not realising how draconian that law would be for people with a medical need. (It would be the same level of draconian power used against people who need to wear them. They would have to carry identification and proof and share their private medical records with strangers for permission to look after their health. And that permission could be-removed to their detriment. There’s no backsies once you caught an infection).

So spend the resources on getting to the bottom of the groups and the antisocial behaviour. And meeting up-skill needs and provisions in these areas to prevent the behaviour. Ask why there are groups of kids going riding round after school.

If you want to implement stupid rules then put those kids under curfew. Ban groups. It would make the same end.

The masks don’t “allow” thugs to travel in groups on bikes, storm shops and leave. Thugs have been doing this for decades if not longer. Even with CCTV and cameras and photos these cases usually fall apart even if faces are visible.

Instead it would be better to tackle the reasons they are going round in groups. Again. That’s not new either.

It’s not more common. You are just hearing about it more and creating your own echo chamber. And posts like this to dog whistle others.

Again banning face coverings won’t help with this anyway. If they had staff enough to police the face coverings they would have staff enough to police the groups. All that will happen is law abiding people will comply, the thugs will not.

You’re creating a problem not a solution with this.

So you’ve abandoned your women need to be ‘free’ to wear a symbol of oppression of women and are focussing in on the topic of people needing to wear masks for medical purposes which no one has suggested should be banned.

As I said before it is not my or pps responsibility to come up with workable exemptions to allow medical use, that is for the governments law writers to work out. They have to draft laws that have the desired effect without unintended consequences all the time so you’ll be fine.

People can't be identified in sunglasses and a baseball cap - would you ban these too?

What's needed is more funding for the police, not pointless restrictions on the general public.

The proliferation of masks and balaclavas has led to increased crime and anti social behaviour.

No, it is the other way round. People don't go out and commit crimes just because they can procure a mask.

Criminals have always worn face coverings. We need to look to other reasosns for the growth in ASB (see above and TokTok craze) and shoplifting behaviours. There wasn't some halcyon time when armed robbers didn't disguise their identity.

They’re thugs. They would do it anyway. Putting on a mask doesn’t suddenly make you want to go rob stuff and hurt people. It’s the behaviour not the mask.

Loads of people happily shoplift without a mask and always have. In fact wearing a mask now is more likely that you get noticed, trust me, and you’re more likely to be spotted shoplifting than not.

You cannot safeguard the “medical reasons” people - all that would happen (and does happen when this is applied) is those people already marginalised and having to take extra precautions suffer, their health suffers and they can’t join in with society safely.

You sort out the antisocial behaviour and lack of skills rather than punishing everyone and bringing in bonkers rules that you can’t even police. All that would happen is those people would still continue to wear a face covering (because they don’t care about rules) and all the law abiding ones who aren’t even the problem would follow them at their own detriment.

The thing is you do not know and no one should have to present their medical information to prove they are entitled to wear a mask. You wouldn’t even know where to draw the line conditions wise. What entitles someone to wear one. I’m not currently entitled to a Covid booster for example but I still choose to wear a mask in indoor spaces.

The problem is the antisocial behaviour.
That’s what needs addressing.
Being photographed or CCTV isn’t a deterrent. It never has been.

How on earth would you police people wearing a face covering. If you were able to police that, you wouldn’t need the ban.

How exactly would preventing a woman wearing the niqab from leaving the house help prevent yobs pulling down a balaclava to rob a shop?