British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was not prepared to impose lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19 to save the elderly and denied the National Health Service would be overwhelmed, his former top adviser said in an interview aired on Monday. In one message, Cummings said Johnson joked that the elderly could “get COVID and live longer” because most people dying were past the average age of life expectancy. Cummings alleges Johnson messaged him to say: “And I no longer buy all this NHS (National Health Service) overwhelmed stuff. A spokesperson for Johnson said the prime minister had taken “the necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice”. Cummings told the BBC that Johnson told officials that he should never have agreed to the first lockdown and that he had to convince him not to take the risk of meeting the queen.

Source: Indian Express July 20, 2021 03:15 UTC