London:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was not ready to impose lockdown restrictions to cease the spread of COVID-19 to save the elderly and denied the National Health Service would be overwhelmed, his former prime adviser mentioned in an interview aired on Monday.
In his initial Television interview considering the fact that leaving his job last year, excerpts of which have been released on Monday, Dominic Cummings mentioned Johnson did not want to impose a second lockdown in the autumn last year mainly because “the people who are dying are essentially all over 80”.
Cummings also claimed that Johnson wanted to meet Queen Elizabeth, 95, in spite of indicators that the virus was spreading in his workplace at the commence of the pandemic and when the public had been told to stay away from all unnecessary make contact with, especially with the elderly.
The political adviser, who has accused the government of becoming accountable for thousands of avoidable COVID-19 deaths, shared a series of messages from October that are allegedly from Johnson to aides.
In one message, Cummings mentioned Johnson joked that the elderly could “get COVID and live longer” mainly because most folks dying have been previous the typical age of life expectancy.
Cummings alleges Johnson messaged him to say: “And I no longer buy all this NHS (National Health Service) overwhelmed stuff. Folks I think we may need to recalibrate.”
Reuters could not independently confirm regardless of whether the messages have been genuine.
A spokesperson for Johnson mentioned the prime minister had taken “the necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice”.
Britain’s opposition Labour Party mentioned the revelations by Cummings strengthened the case for a public enquiry and have been “further evidence that the prime minister has made the wrong calls time and again at the expense of public health”.
Cummings told the BBC that Johnson told officials that he need to under no circumstances have agreed to the initial lockdown and that he had to convince him not to take the threat of meeting the queen.
“I said, what are you doing, and he said, I’m going to see the queen and I said, what on earth are you talking about, of course you can’t go and see the queen,” Cummings mentioned he told Johnson. “And he said, he basically just hadn’t thought it through.”
Despite questioning Johnson’s fitness for his part as prime minister and castigating the government’s fight against COVID-19, Cummings’ criticism has however to seriously puncture the British leader’s ratings in opinion polls. The complete interview will be broadcast on Tuesday.
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