Downing Street has rejected as “a highly defamatory fabrication” a claim that Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, initially argued against strict measures to contain coronavirus in a view summarised as “if that means some pensioners die, too bad”. In an unusual on-the-record denunciation, a Downing Street spokesman said the claims about Cummings’ viewpoint, made in a Sunday Times article, had not been put to No 10 in advance and contained “invented” quotes. While the phrase “herd immunity” was used by government figures such as Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, No 10 has denied it was ever a tactic. The Sunday Times report said this changed the mind of Cummings, who before had been an adherent of the herd immunity idea. It later emerged that in his own prior writings, Cummings had suggested that the NHS should cover the cost of selecting babies to have higher IQs.

Source: The Guardian March 22, 2020 12:11 UTC