Johnson's corona policy has been criticized again and again.
Now she is getting more explosive - in the form of spicy text messages from the Prime Minister.
London - July 19th was Freedom Day * in Great Britain - almost all restrictions that had been put in place to contain the corona pandemic were lifted. That means: fully occupied stadiums and theaters, no mask requirement, bars, restaurants and clubs are back to normal operation. And this despite the fact that the delta variant is spreading in the United Kingdom at an alarming rate. Only the mandatory self-isolation after contact with an infected person remains for the time being. Further restrictions are of a purely local nature: London's Mayor Sadiq Khan, Wales and Scotland want to keep the tougher restrictions for the time being.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received heavy criticism from almost all quarters for his course, and health scientists and opposition activists in particular are shooting against the government's decision.
This defends its course with reference to the high vaccination rate and the low death rate.
Now there is more fuel for the fire of the British discussions: Boris Johnson's ex-advisor, Dominik Cummings, published private WhatsApp messages that date from the time before the second British lockdown in November.
And they are more than explosive.
Johnson: Controversial WhatsApp messages published on the UK's corona strategy
The private news that ex-government advisor Dominik Cummings has now published shows, according to
The Guardian
, that Johnson initially refused to lead the country into a new lockdown. In a television interview, the former chief adviser
stated,
according to
n-tv
, that Johnson was of the opinion that basically only those who are over 80 years old die anyway. In the WhatsApp messages
shared
with the
BBC
, the Prime Minister writes that the average age of Covid-related deaths is over 80, which is also above average life expectancy. "So get Covid and live longer," Johnson wrote according to the publications. The
Guardian
reports that Johnson had also written to his advisors that he was no longer buying "all this overwhelmed NHS stuff," reports
n-tv
.
Corona in Great Britain - Johnson: "[...] just let the matter wash through the country"
Ex-advisor Cummings criticizes Johnson's corona policy as a catastrophic failure, writes
n-tv
.
Now he revealed more details.
The Prime Minister reportedly told his advisors that he should never have given his approval for the first lockdown.
He is supposed to have added literally: "We should basically just ignore [Corona] and just let the matter wash through the country and not destroy the economy and continue," reports
n-tv
based on the
BBC
report
. The news is making waves in England. However, it is currently difficult to say whether they will also have consequences for Boris Johnson. Much will depend on how the situation around Corona and the delta variant on the island will develop, now that the restrictions have almost been completely overridden. (fh)
* Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.