Ricky Gervais has expressed sympathy for UK prime minister Boris Johnson amid criticism of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to Trevor Noah on The Daily Social Distancing Show, Gervais spoke about life under lockdown. “I think everyone feels like they’re in the same boat,” he said. ”People haven’t seen their families for six weeks.”
“The big thing is – apart from the risk, and worrying about your family, I think people wish they could have [an end] date. We turn into kids, going, ‘Are we there yet? Are we there yet?’ And no-one knows. No-one knows anything.”
Asked about the backlash the UK government has received, the comedian continued: “I do feel for the people that have got to go up there and talk to the nation and tell them something. And the truth is, we don’t know. That’s the problem.
“If someone said “It’s over, September 1st”, people would go, ‘okay, that’s fine. See you September 1st.’ But it’s not that easy.”
Johnson has come under particular criticism in recent days for the “Stay Alert” policy, which has been widely decried as confusing and vague. The Office for National Statistics report that the death toll in the UK has now surpassed 40,000 people, making us the worst-hit country in Europe.
Gervais, who recently wrote and starred in the second season of his hit Netflix sitcom After Life, suggested that people were simply looking for a scapegoat.
“Everyone needs someone to blame,” he said. ”’It’s your fault.’ The first thing I noticed was people fighting each other for toilet rolls. And this was like, day one. These are the sort of people that if the plane crashed, they’d start eating each other, and I’d go, ‘we’ve got sandwiches!’”
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