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Coronavirus

09th Apr 2022

Boris compares himself to Thatcher as he refuses to rule out another lockdown

Kieran Galpin

He also said Margaret Thatcher would’ve dealt with the pandemic ‘exactly’ like him

Boris Johnson has refused to rule out another lockdown if another covid variant, stating that “I’m not going to take any options off the table.”

Appearing on GB News, Johnson was not met with fierce questions and scathing comments as he was interviewed by two peers, Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies.

Johnson admitted to wanting to avoid another national lockdown.

“I want to avoid any such thing ever happening again and I can’t rule out something,” he said. “I can’t say we wouldn’t be forced to do non-pharmaceutical interventions again of the kind we did.”

He continued: “I think it would be irresponsible of any leader in any democracy to say that they’re going to rule out something that could save life. And I believe the things we did saved lives.”

For instance, the PM stipulates that there could be a “variant that affects children badly that we really need to contain.”

He explained: “I’m not going to take any options off the table, but I don’t think it will happen. We’re now in the phase, and this is the view of all the advisers I talk to, where the virus is losing its potency overall and we’ve got a massively vaccinated UK population.”

Quizzed on whether he agrees with Brexit Minister Jacob Rees Mogg, who previously branded lockdown restrictions as “inhumane”, Johnson replied: “I do. I do.”

He explained: “I understand why people feel that, and I think people felt that particularly the loss of the ability to see their loved ones in care homes, or to meet properly for funerals… I mean, it was just appalling, to say nothing of the loss of religious services that matter so much to people’s spirit. So, I totally understand that.”

Johnsons also compared himself to Margaret Thatcher, stating: “Don’t forget, in times of difficulty Mrs Thatcher had state spending running very, very high as a proportion of GDP because of the economic difficulties the country was in,” he said.

“So something like Covid, I think, she would have dealt with in exactly the same way.”

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