Covid: Boris Johnson defied lockdown - Dominic Cummings

According to Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson was hesitant to increase Covid restrictions when cases surged last autumn because he believed individuals dying from it were "basically all over 80."

"I no longer buy all this NHS swamped crap," Dominic Cummings said the prime minister had messaged him.

Dominic Cummings claimed that Mr. Johnson wanted Covid to "wash across the country" rather than ruin the economy.

The charges were made in an interview with BBC political reporter Laura Kuenssberg.

Dominic Cummings, Mr. Johnson's former main adviser, has never granted a one-on-one TV interview in his political career.

In response, Downing Street stated that during the pandemic, the prime minister has taken "required measures to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the finest scientific advice."

In addition, the government had avoided the NHS from becoming "overburdened" via three measures.

A representative for the government claimed that three nationwide lockdowns had prevented the NHS from being "overwhelmed."

Dominic Cummings said in a wide-ranging interview that Mr. Johnson wanted to keep his weekly face-to-face meetings with the Queen going near the start of the epidemic last year. But he had to warn his boss that she might die if she contracted coronavirus.

And he defended his contentious choice to drive to his parent's farm in County Durham after the first lockdown began, admitting that he had not "gone honest" about all of the reasons for it, including "security worries" around his family's London house.

Last summer, covid cases fell but began to climb fast again as October approached, causing a debate inside the government about what steps could be taken.

Dominic Cummings told the BBC that he, UK senior scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, and England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty had lobbied for stricter limitations to take effect in mid-September; Sir Patrick and Professor Whitty declined to comment. Dominic Cummings told the BBC that he, UK senior scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, and England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty had lobbied for stricter limitations to take effect in mid-September; Sir Patrick and Professor Whitty declined to comment.

Dominic Cummings went on to say that Mr. Johnson had answered, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Dominic Cummings said that the prime minister had "parts of the media and the Tory party shouting" that more limits should be imposed, and that he "always referred" to the Daily Telegraph, for whom he had previously written a column, as "my true boss."

With Covid deaths reaching more than 100 per day on October 13, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer asked for a two-to-three-week "circuit-breaker" lockdown, but the government declined.

Mr. Johnson appears to have characterized himself as "somewhat rattled by some of the facts on Covid fatalities" in a WhatsApp exchange released with the BBC on October 15.

The prime minister allegedly stated that the "median age" of those who died was between 81 and 82 for men and 85 for women, adding, "That is above life expectancy." So buy Covid and extend your life.

"Almost no one under the age of 60 enters a hospital... and of those who do, nearly all survive. And I'm no longer a fan of the NHS's overburdened products. I believe we may need to re-calibrate, folks... In this country, there are just about 3 million people above the age of 80."

"It indicates we don't go for nationwide lockdown," he allegedly continued.

However, on October 31, the prime minister announced a four-week lockdown for England, which will begin on November 5, citing the necessity to safeguard the NHS since estimates revealed that without "strong action," mortality might reach "several thousand per day."

Business Minister Paul Scully supported the Prime Minister's actions in the autumn, saying that economic constraints had an influence on people's health and life, and that "you have to take all of those issues into account."

"At the time," he added, the 17-day "firebreak lockdown" in Wales, which began two weeks before England's fall lockdown, "didn't have a particularly huge effect."

"These judgments aren't as black-and-white as we can make them now," he said on Radio 4's Today program.

Queen meetings row:

Dominic Cummings told the BBC that he intervened at the outset of the pandemic to prevent Mr. Johnson from continuing to see the Queen, who was then 93, for weekly face-to-face sessions.

Dominic Cummings said that on March 18, last year, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I'll pay a visit to the Queen... Every Wednesday, I do exactly that. So much for it. I'm going to pay her a visit."

He went on to say that he had told Mr. Johnson: "Some people in this office are isolating themselves. You could be infected with the coronavirus. It's possible that I'm infected with the coronavirus.

"You are not permitted to visit the Queen. What if you pay her a visit and give her the coronavirus? Obviously, you are unable to attend."

He went on to say: "'What are you going to do if you give her coronavirus and she dies?' I just asked. You're not going to be able to do it. You can't take that chance. That is utterly ridiculous.'

"And [the PM] answered, 'Yeah...I can't go,' as if he hadn't thought it through."

Downing Street denied the event occurred, but Buckingham Palace remained silent.

Dominic Cummings Long drive north:

Mr. Cummings drove his wife and son from London to his parent's property in County Durham on March 27, four days after the first lockdown began.

On the 12th of April, while staying there, he took a 30-mile road trip to Barnard Castle, which he subsequently explained was to test his eyesight before the 260-mile drive back to London.

These revelations sparked widespread outrage, as well as accusations of double standards, at a time when the government had restricted all but essential long-distance travel.

Mr. Cummings said in his BBC interview that he had been attempting to figure out "Do I feel OK driving?" throughout the Barnard Castle excursion.

He also revealed that he had chosen to relocate his family to County Durham before his wife became ill with suspected Covid due to security worries at his London residence.

Mr. Cummings conceded that "the way we handled the whole situation was wrong" when asked why he gave a tale that was "not the 100 percent truth". During a special press conference in the Downing Street rose garden on May 25.

"I should have either resigned and said nothing about it," he claimed, or gone to his family and said, "Listen, we're just going to have to come clean about the whole thing."

'Entirely focused':

Throughout the interview, Mr. Cummings was pressed to provide evidence to support his version of events.

If there is a public inquiry, he claims that many of his assertions will be confirmed.

Mr. Cummings' interview would be "shocked and painful to hear" for NHS personnel, patients, and family of Covid victims, according to Labour's shadow health minister Justin Madders.

"The revelations show that the prime minister has often made poor decisions at the expense of public health," he continued.

"Boris Johnson is irresponsible and unable to lead, and a public inquiry must be postponed."

According to a spokesperson for Downing Street, "Since the outbreak, the prime minister has taken the essential steps to protect people's lives and livelihoods, based on the greatest scientific advice.

"His government has overseen the quickest vaccination rollout in Europe. Preserved millions of jobs through the furlough program, and stopped the NHS from collapsing due to three national lockdowns.

"The administration is completely focused on slowly emerging from the pandemic and rebuilding better."