Boris Johnson claimed he would "no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff" and was reluctant to reintroduce lockdown measures last Autumn because he said those dying from the virus were "essentially all over 80", former advisor Dominic Cummings has claimed in a shocking new interview.
Speaking with the BBC, Cummings claimed Johnson wanted to let the virus “wash through the country” rather than disrupt the economy, Cummings told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg.
The former chief advisor to Johnson gave his first major media interview since entering his career in politics, however ,he has addressed MPs’ questions on the government’s handling of the pandemic.
In response, Downing Street have said the Prime Minister had taken the "necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice" throughout the pandemic.
A spokesperson added that the government had prevented the NHS "from being overwhelmed through three national lockdowns".
The interview also revealed how Johnson wanted to keep his weekly face-to-face meetings with the Queen during the start of the pandemic.
Cummings was also quizzed about his controversial drive to County Durham during the first lockdown.
He defended the move but added that he had not "come clean" about all the reasons behind it, including "security concerns" around his family home in London.
In the interview Cummings told the BBC that he, UK chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty had pushed for tougher restrictions from mid-September.
However, Cummings went on to allege Mr Johnson had said: "No, no no, no, no, I'm not doing it."
Sir Patrick and Professor Whitty declined to comment to the BBC.
The Prime Minister said he was under pressure from parts of the media and the Tory party not to increase lockdown restrictions and allegedly referred to the Daily Telegraph as "my real boss", according to Cummings.
By October coronavirus deaths were in triple figures a day and Labour leader Keir Starmer had called for a "circuit-breaker" lockdown however the government decided against it.
The BBC have seen WhatsApp messages from the time which allege the prime minister wrote: "That is above life expectancy. So get Covid and Live longer.
"Hardly anyone under 60 goes into hospital... and of those virtually all survive. And I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff. Folks I think we may need to recalibrate... There are max 3m in this country aged over 80."
He reportedly added: "It shows we don't go for nationwide lockdown."
England entered a four week lockdown period on October 31 which Johnson said was needed to protect the NHS.
The Interview will air on BBC Two at 7pm on Tuesday.
