The flare-up in Downing Street showed no sign of slowing down last night after it was claimed Boris Johnson would have rather seen “bodies piled high in their thousands” than impose another Covid lockdown.
According to reports in the Daily Mail the PM begrudgingly agreed to a second, short, lockdown in October after senior ministers and Government scientists warned him at a key No 10 meeting that the NHS faced being overrun.
But the newspaper claimed his frustration bubbled over and he blasted: “No more ****ing lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands!”
No 10 last night dismissed the claims as “just another lie”, but they will be deeply damaging for Mr Johnson whose government is already engulfed in a series of rows.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “If this report is true, then these are truly shocking and sickening comments from Boris Johnson.
“It is hard to imagine how families who have lost loved ones to Covid will feel reading them. He must make a public statement as soon as possible.”
Monday’s @DailyMailUK #MailFrontPages pic.twitter.com/vZBYUgdwWG
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) April 25, 2021
The reaction on social media has been quite explosive.
Here’s what people had to say:
“No more ****ing lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands!”
— Dr Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) April 25, 2021
The problem for Boris Johnson is that everyone can imagine him saying exactly this.
And what a shocking insult to the families of the tens of thousands who did actually die for his vapid incompetence. pic.twitter.com/0vDDGvwQjj
The Daily Mail claims Boris Johnson said, “Let the bodies pile high in their thousands”.
— Max Finch (@MaxRobertFinch) April 25, 2021
If even remotely true the Prime Minister must resign immediately. pic.twitter.com/YnwOQcm75Q
Autumn 2020: “No more f***ing lockdowns! Let the bodies pile high in their thousands”
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) April 25, 2021
Jan 2021: “We did everything we could” pic.twitter.com/Zmm6u79Z3r
Boris Johnson: ‘Let the bodies pile high in their thousands’.
— JC❤️??????woke, flâneur & serious annoyance. (@jclanoe) April 25, 2021
That’s your grandma, grandad, mother, father, daughter or son, folks.
Draw your own conclusions.https://t.co/HGw6GHr0Uz pic.twitter.com/nYSj9isXXq
Boris Johnson’s no10 Downing Street a Cesspit full of Snakes and Cowards “let the bodies pile high in their thousands” pic.twitter.com/aZ8Snyr6pp
— ARTIST TAXI DRIVER (@chunkymark) April 26, 2021
Related: CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”