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- Boris Johnson wanted to be infected with Covid on live television, his former aide Dominic Cummings has claimed
- Cummings is set to claim that Johnson labeled the virus “Kung Flu” and resisted lockdowns because he believed “it is only killing 80-year-olds.”
- He appeared before a House of Commons Committee on Wednesday to set out his claims.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Boris Johnson wanted to be infected with the coronavirus on live television to show it’s nothing to be scared of, the UK Prime Minister’s former aide Dominic Cummings told members of parliament on Wednesday.
Cummings appeared before a House of Commons committee to set out a series of potentially damaging claims about his former boss.
These included claims that Johnson wanted to be injected with the virus on live television by one of his senior advisors.
“In February the PM regarded this as just a scare story,” Cummings told MPs.
“The view of lots of people was if the PM said it’s just like swine flu, don’t worry about it, I will get [chief medical officer] Chris Whitty to inject me live on TV with it, that would not help.”
A report by the Daily Mail suggests that Cummings will also claim that Johnson:
- Labeled the coronavirus “Kung Flu” in imitation of Donald Trump.
- That he was reluctant to lock down because “it is only killing 80-year-olds.”
- Said he would rather have “bodies pile up” than lockdown a second time.
- Failed to act in the first wave because he was on a long holiday with his fiancee.
- Initially refused a second lockdown because “‘I’m going to be the mayor of Jaws.”
Cummings is reportedly due to claim that Johnson suggested that “the big danger is not Kung-Flu but the harm caused in trying to stop it.”
“I was right all along and should not have been pushed into the first lockdown. The economic damage caused by lockdowns is more damaging than the loss of life caused by Covid.”
Downing Street believe that Cummings, who was ejected from office last year following an internal row over the influence of Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds, is determined to seek revenge on Johnson.
He will appear before a joint committee of the House of Commons for almost four hours and is reportedly prepared with private internal messages setting out what he believes were the failures of Johnson’s administration to tackle the pandemic.