Cabinet ministers have been accused of undermining Covid advice and putting MPs’ and parliamentary staff’s safety at risk by declining to wear masks, as they packed the Commons chamber full to debate Afghanistan’s takeover by the Taliban. Ministers lifted the mandatory requirement for masks to be worn in most places on 19 July, instead allowing people to make their own decisions about whether and where to use them. When Boris Johnson opened the debate about the collapse of the Afghan government he was without a mask, as were most of the other ministers sitting on the front green bench. All the Labour frontbenchers, including the party leader, Keir Starmer, and his deputy, Angela Rayner, wore masks.