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Johnson resisted 2nd lockdown as 'most of those dying were over 80': ex-aide

43 Comments
By Anna MALPAS

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Compared with Japan the UK is a better place to be!

I was in Japan until March 2021

The UK is streets ahead!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Her whole reason for living is for her family and friends, so denying access in order to 'protect her' is not what she wants.

Yeah, this is where I come down.

I know of grandparents and grandkids that would like to be able to meet in person, some for the first time, but this basic human freedom is essentially precluded in practical terms due to decisions taken by politicians.

But it is a tricky issue for sure. People wishing to go about their lives do need to take care to not spread the virus lest it effect the lives of others. I don’t know that any country has figured this out appropriately yet.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

"The prime minister had some really difficult decisions to make," he added. "We want to protect people, we want to keep people safe... but that has to be balanced with people's livelihoods."

He did his best with what information he had available at that time. And different lockdown laws apply to each separate nation in the UK. I give him a passing grade.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

My 80+ mother would much rather have her kids, grand kids, great-grand kids and friends be able to visit (with proper precautions) than perpetual lockdowns. Her whole reason for living is for her family and friends, so denying access in order to 'protect her' is not what she wants.

Put in strong yet reasonable protections for the elderly and vulnerable, but don't go overboard. Washing hands, regular sterilization and avoiding contact if actually sick should be enough. Let the country go about it's business as usual.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Desert Tortoise, Ireland ismnt a badly run English speaking county.

We are totally different to Boris and his Bullingham boys.

Tsk Tsk

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Apart from the loony left press in the UK (i.e. The Morning Star) - His whole interview has been rubbished by everybody else. He has made himself irrelevant. The BBC is FAR from being friendly towards the Conservatives - They unintentionally gave DC the rope to hang himself.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

BigYen

I seem to remember that last year all these “just let Granny die” comments were being attributed solely to Cummings. It’s pretty obvious now that Johnson felt the same way. Both are pond slime.

You are misinterpreting in order to see malice. The claim is not that he said "let Granny die". The claim is that he resisted punshing the entire population when there is only a small group that is endangered. In that situation a much more reasonable approach is of course to concentrate on protecting that vulnerable group.

So while the claim is meant to make Boris look bad, it in fact only states he said something common sense, and something that many critics of the radical lockdowns are saying.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

"Taking back control"? "Return to normal"? "Freedom Day"? Or coming soon: the Covid Bojo variant? The received wisdom of the Cons (and the conned) that the pandemic in Blighty is over remains iffy to anyone with an ounce of caution and common sense.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

> The wailing and gnashing of teeth is like some people want to live forever.You had a good run if you last till 80.

All medical care should stop at 79. It’s nature. Doctors should lose their license if they give treatment to anyone aged 80 or above. They had their chance.

(sarcasm)

1 ( +3 / -2 )

"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to avoid a second lockdown last autumn, arguing that most of those dying were over 80, according to his former aide-turned bitter foe Dominic Cummings."

I wonder if Johnson really said this. It seems like Cummings is just trying to get back at his old boss.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

It was obvious from the beginning that herd immunity was the preferred option for the Government, and who can blame them ?

England now has herd immunity ... to Johnson’s lethal strain of politics.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The British vaccination program has been one of the most successful in the world

Congrats BoJo!

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

Burning Bush:

When I’m 80 my grandkid will sit on my lap and transfer one of the countless viruses that are harmless to them but deadly to my old frail body to me and I will die.

But that is the natural cycle of life.

If you want to end it there and then, be my guest. Don't let any of us stop you. That's your prerogative. But I don't want to see my elderly relatives dead.

Boris Johnson is a babbling selfish idiot. Full of hot air. There were days when the worse thing he ever did was to embarrass himself by getting stuck in mid-air, a flag in either hand. He's been playing with other people's lives ever since.

14 ( +17 / -3 )

However, all this is now past.

The UK is out of lockdowns and normality is returning, unlike Japan.

Almost 100 Covid deaths yesterday. This WILL increase, no matter how you wanna spin it.

Normality, right?

9 ( +11 / -2 )

The UK has had tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths from Covid. These include medical staff who were not given adequate protective equipment. The UK did not close the border with India as the delta variant emerged, seemingly because Johnson was desperate to go there himself to sign a post-Brexit trade deal. The delta variant is currently rampant and infecting around 50,000 people a day. The biggest sign that the UK has not dealt with Covid successfully though remains the tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Cummings' comments here are probably all true, but he has tarnished his own brand with the Barnard Castle episode, so no-one is listening. Unlike other, far more worthy critics of government policy, he has marginalized himself.

It may be wishful thinking, but I believe the general lack of uproar is because we are living in extraordinary times. Historically, people would not put up with a government this inept and this corrupt. Governments have fallen in my lifetime for much less.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Important things must be owned by each and every one of us, rather than delegated to a bunch of other people.

Part of the problem in the UK was how slow Johnson was in closing the borders.

How do we as individuals deal with that? Stand at the ports, train stations and airports with sticks?

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Seems like a bit of a loon and spouting sour grapes. Bojo is also a bit of a goon, but some of these statements he allegedly made are not that ridiculous.

-10 ( +4 / -14 )

You might think that after getting and recovering from Covid-19 last year Bozo would know better but he's shirking responsibility once again and passing the buck. A total yutz klutz.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

The UK has been hit hard by this disease, but the response has been amazing.

Part of the reason it was hit so hard was because of Johnson’s incompetence in the first place.

He was slow off the mark because he was showboating for the cameras. This is the man who ended up in hospital after playing down the severity of this virus.

Absolute tit.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

his former boss "put his own political interests ahead of people's lives".

So what’s new?

Anyone imagining that there are angels among us who will rule over us with pure benevolence are living in never never land.

Important things must be owned by each and every one of us, rather than delegated to a bunch of other people.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Of the entire English speaking world Canada seems to be the only nation to have it even half way together. The rest seem to be both governed and populated by complete idiots. There is almost nothing to recommend in the governments and the policies of almost every English speaking nation on the planet. Moreover adult self restraint among the public at large seems to be pathetically absent. Behaving like spoiled brats throwing a tantrum seems to be the rule of the day. The Chinese are laughing great big belly laughs at us schmucks, even as they are trying to flee flooded subways and their cars float down the street.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Would he be an Australian, he would not have hesitated for a lockdown

5 ( +8 / -3 )

And what say his mum?

12 ( +14 / -2 )

When people such as Johnson and the other bunch of like-minded covid-dismissing idiotic leaders scattered throughout the world are so obsessed with keeping corporate interests, share values and other high financial concerns above the health of the rest of us, its bad. But when you see them extending this caviler attitude to even being reckless with their own health, it proves that some people have to be protected from their greed, even for their own health sake.

15 ( +19 / -4 )

You heard it here first. Take one for the team, Granny. Ol’ Boris needs to see his hairdresser.

12 ( +16 / -4 )

Absolutely in character! Spoken by a scoundrel with "patriotic" tongue-in-cheek and a wink (the last refuge of a Tory).

7 ( +11 / -4 )

I’m betting Johnson’s comments were taken out of context here

Based on what? His track record of honesty, empathy, competence and thinking before reacting?

I used to work for a bookie. I’d take your bet .

17 ( +23 / -6 )

"This is terrible but the people dying are essentially all over 80 and we can't kill the economy just because of people dying over 80."

I wonder whether Johnson also thought it's not a big problem because those old folk dying are not from my family nor from my caste.

17 ( +22 / -5 )

I’m betting Johnson’s comments were taken out of context here. I think he was merely pointing out COVID was not the lethal threat people believed it to be early on.

And how’d that lockdown work out for the UK? Looks like it didn’t or made it worse.

-17 ( +10 / -27 )

A bitter and tiny man. He's irrelevant

15 ( +22 / -7 )

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