Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Boris Johnson didn’t want 2nd lockdown last year because it would ‘kill the economy’ to save the elderly, former top aide says

Boris Johnson didn’t want 2nd lockdown last year because it would ‘kill the economy’ to save the elderly, former top aide says

Dominic Cummings has claimed that the British PM denied the NHS would be overwhelmed by rising Covid-19 cases last year and was reluctant to impose a second lockdown, as he did not want to “kill the economy” to save the elderly.

The former top Downing Street adviser made the bombshell revelations in his first TV interview since leaving office. During the conversation with the BBC, Cummings said Boris Johnson “put his own political interests ahead of people’s lives, for sure.”

In the lead-up to the second lockdown in November, Cummings said Johnson’s attitude was a “weird mix” of “partly ‘it’s all nonsense and lockdowns don’t work anyway,’ and partly ‘well, this is terrible but the people who are dying are essentially all over 80, and we can’t kill the economy just because of people dying over 80.’”

According to WhatsApp messages leaked by Cummings to the public broadcaster, the PM had joked that people could “get Covid and live longer,” since most deaths were of those who were “above [average] life expectancy.”

In messages sent to aides in mid-October, Johnson reportedly described himself as being “slightly rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities,” which he then reasoned “shows we don’t go for nationwide lockdown.”

Noting that the “median age” for Covid deaths was between 81 and 82 for men and 85 for women, and that “there are max [three million people]” aged over 80 in the UK, he allegedly wrote there was a “need to recalibrate” public health thinking around lockdowns.

“Hardly anyone under 60 goes into hospital ... and of those virtually all survive. And I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff,” Johnson apparently wrote.

The revelations cast additional doubt over the PM’s actions last autumn – a period in which, Cummings claimed, Johnson had continued to ignore recommendations made by his scientific and medical advisers to bring in tougher restrictions.

“When you get to the week of around about 15 to 19 September, by that point the data was clear about what was happening,” Cummings said, adding that Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty had told Johnson to “consider hitting it hard and early.”

In response, Cummings claimed, the PM said, “No, no no, no, no, I’m not doing it.”


Alleging that Johnson was concerned about the potential reaction of his “real boss” in right-wing news media and the Conservative Party, Cummings said the PM told his advisers that he should not have agreed to the first lockdown earlier in the year.

“He then basically reverted and said, actually the whole thing was a disaster, we should never have done it, I was right in February, we should basically just ignore it and just let the thing wash through the country and not destroy the economy and move on,” Cummings said.

Cummings also claimed that Johnson had wanted to meet Queen Elizabeth in person in March 2020, when Downing Street staff were already falling ill and after the PM had told the public to avoid all unnecessary contact, particularly with the elderly.

“You obviously can’t go … I just said if you, if you give her coronavirus and she dies what, what are you gonna, you can’t do that, you can’t risk that, that’s completely insane. And he said, he basically just hadn’t thought it through, he said, yeah, ‘holy shit, I can’t go.’”

A Downing Street spokesperson denied that this incident took place, while Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.


When asked during the interview for proof to back up his version of events, Cummings stated that many of his allegations would be corroborated by a public inquiry. Since falling out with Johnson last year, he has repeatedly blamed the government for thousands of avoidable Covid-19 deaths.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister had taken “the necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice” since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party echoed Cummings’ call for a public inquiry and said the revelations were “further evidence that the prime minister has made the wrong calls time and again at the expense of public health.”

The full interview will be broadcast on Tuesday.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×