Facts

On Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme, on 4 July 2021, Robert Jenrick was asked: “If you are permitted, will you be getting rid of your mask?”

Jenrick responded: “I will, I don’t particularly want to wear a mask, I don’t think a lot of people enjoy doing it.”

Two weeks later, on the Andrew Marr Show, Jenrick denied making these comments.

Marr asked Jenrick: “You said you’d take your mask off at the first possible opportunity, as soon as it was legal to do so. Professor Ferguson is going to keep his mask on. Are you not being selfish?”

Jenrick responded: “No I didn’t say that Andrew. I was asked two weeks ago...whether I wanted to wear a mask and I said I don’t particularly want to, like millions of other people across the country. I’ll be continuing to carry a mask and wearing it in crowded places.”

Verdict

To be fair to Robert Jenrick, Andrew Marr did not at first provide an exact quote. Nevertheless, he gave a fairly accurate summary of the Trevor Phillips conversation. 

Our verdict:  Jenrick appears to have a poor memory. We emailed him twice to offer him the chance to comment. He did not reply. We then phoned his office and spoke to an assistant and were still unable to elicit a comment.