The mayor of London has said he argued for the closure of construction sites during a a COBRA meeting as part of the UK's Covid-19 lockdown, but was overruled by Boris Johnson.

Sadiq Khan said that during a meeting of the Government's emergency COBRA committee, he told Mr Johnson "forcibly" that construction workers should not be going into work, unless it was for safety reasons.

But the Prime Minister, and a number of other ministers, overuled him, stating that he wanted "business as usual."

Builders and construction workers have said they feel "angry and unprotected" going to work following the introduction of the stricter anti-Covid-19 measures.

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After more scenes of packed Tube trains on Tuesday morning, Mr Khan was asked if construction workers in London should be among the travellers.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "My view is no, and I made that point quite forcibly at yesterday's Cobra, I made that point quite clearly to the Prime Minister.

"According to the Government's advice the answer is yes."

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A crane operator at a London construction site with 400 to 500 workers said: "Everyone on site at the minute feels angry and unprotected."

The man, who asked not to be named, said if he opted not to go in he "wouldn't get paid or even could lose my job".

"(It's) scary really - I've got a family and kids at home. I'm in London around all these people, bringing it all back into an isolated home."

Speaking to LBC, Sadiq Khan said that he "can't find any justification for people when we know there is a global pandemic, when hundreds have already died and we know that thousands will die unless we take big steps.

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"Why the government doesn't make it quite clear that these are instructions that must be followed. People must stay at home unless there is one of four reasons why they've got to leave home - food, medicine, exercise or one of those critical jobs."

Khan has previously said he supported the Prime Minister's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but said: "The Prime Minister has been moving slower than I would have wanted. I still don't think last night's message was as clear as it could be and this conversation is evidence of that."

"I think it's important for the government to understand the scale of the challenge we are facing.

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"Of course I understand that bills have to be paid by the government, but they have to realise that people are dying.

"In the meantime, people are making choices for reasons that I understand - they are self-employed freelancers working in the gig economy - and the government's got to step in and help them.