Jeremy Clarkson has criticised Covid scientists and politicians while sharing what he thinks should happen next in a post-pandemic world.
The TV presenter said that he disagrees with the idea of lockdowns designed to keep people safe, calling scientists “those communists at SAGE” who should “get back in their box”.
SAGE, which stands for The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has been been providing scientific advice to help politicians with their decision making during the pandemic.
“When it started, I read up on pandemics and they tend to be four years long,” Clarkson told Radio Times.
He said he believes we should “go through life with our fingers crossed and a smile on our face”.
“I can see Boris [Johnson] doesn’t want to open it up and shut us back down again,” he said, adding: “But if it’s going to be four years... and who knows, it could be 40 years.”
He then added that “if it’s going to be forever, let’s open it up and if you die, you die”.
Clarkson was being interviewed by the outlet for a lockdown edition of Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour, alongside co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond. Producer Andy Wilman was also present.
On Tuesday morning (3 August), awareness of his comments slowly started trickling onto social media, with the main reaction being that of outrage.
Hammond recently responded to claims that he was banned from appearing on Clarkson’s other Amazon series, titled Clarkson’s Farm.
Appearing on This Morning, he said: “I read that!And I was... oh.”
