I had a face mask run-in today. My friend and his wife were visiting for the afternoon, and they wanted to go for a pint. We went to a quiet local pub, where the barman told us that no one was allowed in without a face mask, no exemptions…

Normally I’d have left right away, but my friend and his wife were wearing masks, and they wanted a drink. So I pulled my woolly hat down over my face, like a balaclava. I knew it looked ridiculous but that was my point…

I could see through the fabric just about well enough to walk to the nearest table, which was about four feet away. I then sat down and I removed the hat from my face, expecting to be served…

Unfortunately the barman repeated “you’re not allowed in without a mask”. So I put the hat back on my face and replied “Is my face covered? Yes or no?” He said “I’m going to have to ask you to leave”, so I repeated my question. Again he refused to answer, and asked me to leave…

At this point, two men (the only other customers) piped up and said to the barman: “call the police”. My friend then said to me “it’s not worth it, Ben”. Personally, I thought it was very much worth it, but again I didn’t want to upset him and his wife…

So I stood up, pointed individually at each of the two men and the barman, and I said to each of them in turn: “you’re mentally ill”. The barman then told me to “fuck off”, to which I replied “you’re a coward” and I left the pub...

This incident perfectly symbolises what the mask rule is really about: arbitrary conformity; arbitrary obedience. I tried to do the right thing by my friend and his wife, but in truth I did the wrong thing…

I shouldn’t have put my hat on my face. I should have refused to kowtow in any way whatsoever to this arbitrary government rule. Bullying is bullying. Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile. Have we not learned this yet?