What was claimed
MPs are not following workplace Covid guidance such as wearing masks.
Our verdict
Covid guidance for MPs attending parliament does not involve wearing masks, but does include 2 metre distancing and limits on attendance.
This is what the guidelines are for social distancing in parliament.
24 September 2020
Several posts online have claimed that MPs in parliament are not adhering to Covid rules, such as mask-wearing and social distancing. The image in question comes from a debate on the Internal Markets Bill on 14 September.
There are a number of measures in place to ensure social distancing is adhered to in Parliament, such as no more than 50 MPs allowed in the Chamber at any time, and breaks to allow MPs to enter and exit the chamber safely. A video of the debate shows that number was not exceeded.
Nevertheless, some MPs have expressed their own reservations about the system for entering the House of Commons, especially during votes.
The image in the posts comes from near the end of the debate, shortly before the House voted on the Bill. (The first vote came with a specific request from the Deputy Speaker that MPs exit the chamber in a particular way and observe social distancing.)
It is currently not mandatory for people to wear face coverings or masks in workplaces such as offices, and guidance for workplaces says that there should be a “reasonable effort to comply” with social distancing guidelines, but that the distance can be less than two metres if other risk mitigation is carried out.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because Covid guidance in parliament involves a number of measures, but not mask-wearing.