DOMINIC Cummings is reportedly set to allege that Boris Johnson said “Covid was only killing 80-year-olds” in a bid to avoid lockdown.
The PM‘s former chief adviser is set to give evidence to MPs on the combined Health and Science committees tomorrow.
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Mr Cummings will allege that Boris said “Covid is only killing 80-year-olds” as he delayed introducing a second lockdown in the autumn, ITV reported.
He will also reportedly allege that the Prime Minister didn’t want to repeat what he though was a mistake to lockdown in March at the beginning of the pandemic.
Mr Cummings will claim that Boris said he was “going to be the mayor of Jaws, like I should have been in March”, referring to the town leader in the 1975 film who keeps the beaches open despite a killer shark roaming the waters.
It comes as a Government insider reportedly told the Mirror that Mr Johnson approved plans for the controversial European Super League – despite later vowing to block it.
The source claimed the PM’s chief of staff Dan Rosenfield made Mr Johnson aware of the idea after a meeting with Manchester United chairman Ed Woodward.
The source reportedly said: “Boris doesn’t know much about football so he said it was a great idea. So Dan told the clubs No 10 wouldn’t stand in their way. Then it all kicked off.”
Another Government source reportedly told the Mirror that Mr Johnson had dismissed the disease as “only” killing 80-year-olds.
They claimed that he said: “If I was 80 I wouldn’t care, I’d be more worried about the economy”.
‘BODIES’ CLAIM DENIED
Last month, Mr Johnson denied reports he said he’d rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” than order Britain back into lockdown for a third time.
The PM dismissed claims he made the remarks after a No 10 meeting, and insisted Covid restrictions do work.
He allegedly made the comments after being told he had no choice but to put the country back under harsh restrictions last October.
But asked if he had said such a thing, Boris replied: “No.”
He then added: “But I think the important thing that people want us to get on and do as a Government is to make sure that the lockdowns work, and they have.
“I really pay tribute to the people of this country, this whole country that have really pulled together and working with the vaccination programme we’ve got the disease under control.
“The numbers of deaths, the number of hospitalisations, are currently very low. That doesn’t mean that Covid is over. We’ve got to be realistic.
“Unfortunately there probably will be another wave, but the vaccination programme has been so massive we’ve built up some pretty robust fortifications against the next wave.”
The PM also suggested voters wouldn’t be interested in the reports.
He said: “I know why you’ve got to focus on this sort of stuff, but I really think that that is not where the public are.
“What they want to hear about is our plans for jobs, growth, bouncing back, for delivering on the roadmap.
“To what extent are we really going to be powering through this?
“As things stand I think we’ve got a very good chance of really opening up totally on June 21.
“But we’ve got to be cautious and go on the data not the dates. I think that is what people are interested in.”
