Please read a letter sent by me in response to my ASDA marshal enquiry. Feel free to use it if you want to.
Kyle
Thank you for your email and instructions on how to wear a face mask etc. However, your description of a suitable covering is actually wrong. The guidelines require a three layer mask. I CAN argue that most of these masks do not filter the Covid virus, as stated by the manufacturers of the masks themselves and so the obvious question is 'so why wear a mask that does nothing to filter the virus...." ? its completely pointless, which is why the requirements are only guidelines and not law.
Further, bandannas, scarves, handkerchief's etc are NOT triple layer and offer NO protection at all. This very quickly begins to look more like a control mechanism than it does a safety requirement.
Kyle, You then produce the same exemptions that apply to everyone else in the country, so again the question is, why do you need Covid Marshals in your store? This again smacks of control and not safety of any kind. I now take this opportunity to remind you of some other laws that you may not be quite familiar with:
1. The 2005 UNESCO (bioethics Human rights) statement, that forms the basis of the UK human rights laws, that CANNOT be removed by the UK government, despite all their claims. This human rights statement is required to be integrated into the laws of member states, of which UK is a full member and cannot be removed without leaving the United Nations/UNESCO community. As yet the UK is not planning such a move. Article 6 is most interesting and deals with consent. You might want to look it up. 2. The 2010 Equalities Act - This basically protects anyone who is being treated differently than the general population based on their condition. In the case of Asda Marshals, this is particularly apt. The act does not allow somebody to question why you may not be wearing a mask (myself included, I cannot wear a face covering of any type). The individual has no obligations to disclose their reasons IIf another person questions or forces an individual to disclose their disability or reasons why a mask is not being worn, that individual is liable to prosecution under this act and could personally face a fine of up to £9000 (Nine thousand pounds), along with any other person who supports the actions (managers etc). A Marshal directing a person to buy a mask when they are not required to wear one, you now enter the realms of breaching the UK / UNESCO Human rights act. Therefore, the point of the Marshal being there in the first place is what? They cannot question, enforce or sell ANYTHING to a person simply because they are not wearing a mask. Kyle I am pleased to see that ASDA/Walmart are able to alienate a particular group of customers and possibly risk prosecution from the actions of staff that have no real job or function to perform. Quite clearly, this is a control mechanism and not a safety issue and ASDA are being used to enforce the wishes of the government because the laws DO NOT exist and will not exist to enforce this for themselves. You have already lost lots of customers because of this ludicrous ruling. I am glad that you can afford to lose even more. Regards Steve Habberley
Brilliant - I will use it because I have just had an email about their new policies! Crap and Bovine Excrement to them!
What address did you use to write back as the email I have just received is a NO REPLY and boy do I want to reply!
Hang on a mo, I will get back to you... In the meantime, wouldnt it be great if thousands of people wrote to ASDA/TESCO and the like. Making them think about supporting a lying government. Erode them from the inside - out
asda1@mailgb.custhelp.com
I will email them especially as Asda is m only local supermarket. Thank you
Yep - Ready and willing to do it. The Coronavirus Act/Bill is illegal anyway and so is the lying Government.
I also wrote to : customer.services@asda.co.uk
There is also the damage they are doing to their suppliers - struggling farmers etc. Maybe we should all get together and do a deal with them direct and cut out the Supermarkets - wouldn't that be great. I think I will visit my local butcher and set up a regular delivery. Also a local online veg and fruit delivery company. Thank you Steve for the info. will email them this afternoon.
Heres my original letter for what its worth
steve Habberley <stevehabberley@yahoo.co.uk> To:customer.services@asda.co.uk
Wed, 23 Sep at 19:52
Dear Sir / madam I am sending this email because I am concerned about reports in MSM that you (ASDA) are employing the services of COVID marshals. I read further that these marshals have been instructed to approach non mask wearing customers and inform or order them to purchase disposable masks. I am registered disabled and have been exempt from mask wearing since the start of this fiasco. I need to point out that if a retail assistant/manager or anyone approaches me and questions my mask wearing status, they can be prosecuted under the equalities act 2010, section 17 which carries a personal penalty of up to £9000 for asking me to divulge details of my disability. I find it offensive that you feel that you are able to act or instruct your staff to act in this way. After all, would you ask a person in a wheelchair to stand up to prove they are disabled? I know my responsibilities under the coronavirus2020 act and I am NOT required to explain or inform anyone in any detail WHY I do not wear a mask. Please inform me if you intend to adopt this procedure because I WILL prosecute any individual that breaks the Equalities 2010 act. Regards Stephen Habberley 8 North View Terrace Aberdare CF44 6BJ stevehabberley@yahoo.co.uk
I have written an email using some of your information. Well done. I will see what they come back with. I have described the Marshalls as Bully Boys, which is what I think they are. Time to blow this scam out of the water!
Bully boys! Have you seen the pics on MSM, They couldn't punch their way out of a paper bag.
Fair enough with the letter, I put it up as a bit of a template. I hope you get a reply, let me know what they say.
Certificate Of Vaccination Identity Data -19! Never a virus, just a scam, particularly when they were preparing for it in 2018! Moderna's patent application!
Wouldn't it be better if one supermarket, ASDA seems a good candidate be assigned as a Bedwetter Paradise and normal people could then do shopping mask less and hassle less anywhere else?
YEAHH!!! couln't agree more. Our local asda has lots of windows too, keep them busy for hours
Fantastic idea. I would be quite happy to shop elsewhere (even go on a bus) if I knew I'd be free to shop without stress and all weirdos with broon tendancies were in one area lol
@stevehabberley
your letter is excellent. have you had a reply? Pls let me know when/if you do
I had a pretty bad experience in my local ASDA yesterday. I have emailed too. I wrote the below;
I am writing to you to express my concern about the conduct of a member of your staff during a visit to your Totton Superstore on 26/09/2020. Whilst this is an isolated incident, I am concerned that other people or indeed myself again may also have the same experience.
The incident in question relates to those who are exempt from wearing face coverings. As I was using a self-service checkout, I was approached by a member of staff and asked why I wasn't wearing a mask. This in itself is not an issue, however, when I tried to explain that I was exempt, the staff member would not accept this. I was told that I needed a lanyard or pin badge, and was reluctant to accept the fact that I was in possession of an exemption card as produced by the government. His remark was, and I quote directly "Anyone could download one of them"
Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe there is anything in law that states that people must display something in the open, for anyone to see, that they have some sort of disability or other issue that prevents them from wearing a mask. In fact, to do so would be in contradiction to the Equality Act 2010, as it could be considered harassment in itself, or put the individual at risk of harassment by singling them out as being different. More directly, your staff do not have the right to question a persons reasons for not wearing a mask, and individuals have the absolute right not to disclose details of their health to anyone. These again are directly protected by the Equalities Act 2010. Breaching this act can leave both the individual and the employer liable for prosecution, with a maximum fine of £9000.
I am well aware of my responsibilities under the coronavirus2020 act and I am NOT required to explain to or inform anyone in any detail why I do not wear a mask.
The above incident left me feeling extremely uncomfortable, and unfairly singled out and harassed for having a perfectly valid exemption to the rules. I would remind you that you have a responsibility to create an environment where every individual can shop and go about their business without fear of harassment or discrimination. I hope and trust that you will brief all of your staff, and remind them of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. I look forward to reading your response.
I'll let you know what response I get
I would love to read what they have to say, please do let me know. You are absolutely correct in all you say in your letter. Well Done!
Credit where it is due, this is the sort of response I was hoping for;
Thank you for contacting us here at Asda, regarding your recent visit to our Totton store.
First of all, I am sorry for the level of service that you received on your visit to the store, as you were accosted by a colleague and asked why you wasn't wearing a face mask. And although you advised that you were exempt and was in fact wearing an exemption badge to show you are exempt the colleague advised that this was not enough.
Although we as a retailer are doing everything, in our power to prevent the spread of the virus, we understand that some of our customers are exempt from wearing a face mask when visiting our stores.
I would like to thank you for raising this matter with us, as it ensures we are able to feed this back to the store and ensure that all of our colleagues are retrained/re-briefed on the exemptions for all customers that are visiting our stores. Although we cannot give any specific details about the outcome of any actions taken against colleagues, please be assured that the matter will be dealt with.
Please accept my apologies once again and thank you for bringing this to our attention once again.
@Theeagle WELL DONE, It just goes to show, if you stand up for your rights, they will always back down.
Unbelievable, when they say ” spread of the virus” To me that just means they are brainwashed . These big stores are all happy to go along with this shit because it’s putting all the little independent stores out of business. It was bad enough before the covid BS now it’s even worse . They have this high and mighty attitude, ” we are doing everything we can to keep,our customers safe “,
they can go fukc themselves
I have got to admit to not going to asdas or tescos for about a year now for all the reasons mentioned. I much prefer to shop in the smaller stores where they greet you with your name and are helpful beyond belief