UK: No 10 Downing Denies Claim Dominic Cummings, Chief Adviser To PM Argued To 'Let Old People Die'

No 10 denies claim Dominic Cummings argued to 'let old people die.' Downing Street says Sunday Times report on PM’s aide is ‘highly defamatory fabrication,’ The Guardian, March 22, 2020.

Downing Street has rejected as “a highly defamatory fabrication” a claim that Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, initially argued against strict measures to contain coronavirus in a view summarised as “if that means some pensioners die, too bad”.

In an unusual on-the-record denunciation, a Downing Street spokesman said the claims about Cummings’ viewpoint, made in a Sunday Times article, had not been put to No 10 in advance and contained “invented” quotes.

The report claimed that at one private event at the end of February, Cummings outlined then government’s strategy at the time in a way that was summarised by some present as “herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad.”

The allegations, which have been widely shared online, connect with wider criticisms that the government response to the virus was initially too weak, based on a notion that rather than limiting its spread, enough people could be allowed to contract it to give population-wide “herd immunity”.

While the phrase “herd immunity” was used by government figures such as Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, No 10 has denied it was ever a tactic. However, the use of the phrase illustrated initial tensions within government over how to balance the economic impact of a full national lockdown against the potential number of deaths from the virus...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/22/no-10-denies-claim-dominic-cummings-argued-to-let-old-people-die

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings



- Effigy of Dominic Cummings as puppet-master to Boris Johnson at the People's Vote March, Oct, 2019.