Extend face mask rules and you risk three-figure rebellion, Boris Johnson warned

Boris Johnson has been told it would be "mad" to extend face mask rules beyond Jan 26 as Tory MPs warned doing so could spark a "three-figure rebellion".

Mr Johnson is widely expected to scrap regulations on Covid passports and guidance to work from home in England next Wednesday, when "Plan B" restrictions are reviewed. It is possible that an announcement on these measures could come as soon as this week.

However, the Government is understood to be considering retaining some rules on face masks beyond the end of the month.

The proposal would require a Commons vote, as the powers used to introduce the current rules – which oblige people to wear masks in most public indoor settings – expire next Wednesday. On Monday, a series of Tory MPs urged Mr Johnson to rule it out.

Tory Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, urged the Prime Minister to switch from legal rules to voluntary guidance, saying: "I'm of the mind, as a Conservative, that people can make their own minds up if they want to wear a face mask."

The "Red Wall" MP said he would happily continue to put on a face covering voluntarily while using the London Underground "if hundreds of people are crammed in", saying that would be "sensible".

But Mr Anderson questioned why the rules should apply to quieter public transport situations, adding: "If one person is on a bus, why should they wear a face mask?" He confirmed that he would vote against an extension if one were brought to the Commons.

Tory MP Bob Blackman, who sits on the 1922 committee executive, said: "I don't see any point in having rules that everyone is ignoring."

He said that, during a visit to a supermarket in his Harrow East constituency last week, half of the shoppers and none of the staff were wearing face coverings.

One senior Conservative MP warned that the Government would "be mad" to pursue an extension of mask rules and predicted it would provoke a rebellion of more than 100 backbenchers.

"The last thing he [Mr Johnson] needs is another three-figure rebellion," said the MP amid Tory mutiny over "partygate". "The numbers [of Covid cases] are falling now. We know, mercifully, that the symptoms are pretty mild for those who are vaccinated.

"If he does that, he looks like he's still being run by [Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris] Whitty and [Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick] Vallance, and at the moment he just can’t afford that. Any backtracking on that [scrapping Plan B restrictions], in his current circumstances, would be foolish."

On Monday night, government sources insisted it was too early for ministers to have made final decisions on retaining aspects of the Plan B measures.