Boris Johnson suggested that COVID was ‘nature’s way of dealing with old people’

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested that the coronavirus pandemic was “pathetic” and “nature’s way of dealing with old people,” an inquiry was told.

In his notebook in 2020, the government’s former chief scientist, Sir Patrick Vallance, wrote that the ex-PM’s attitude was laid bare in a “bonkers set of exchanges” in a WhatsApp group with the then-British leader.

Vallance wrote in August 2020 that Johnson was “obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going.”

In December 2020, Vallance wrote that Johnson said he believed he had been “acting early” on the pandemic — which killed over 230,000 Brits alone — and that the “public are with him (but his party is not).”

“He says his party ‘thinks the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people — and I am not entirely sure I disagree with them,’” Vallance quoted Johnson as saying.

Earlier, in October 2020, Johnson stressed the need to “recalibrate” away from a lockdown because it was predominantly elderly people dying.

“I must say I have been slightly rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities,” he wrote at the time, messages shared in the inquiry show.

“The median age is 82 – 81 for men 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get Covid and live longer,” he was quoted as saying.

“I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff” and there were “max 3m (three million) in this country aged over 80.”

A UK government spokesperson told The Post, “Throughout the pandemic the government acted to save lives and livelihoods, prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and deliver a world-leading vaccine rollout which protected the nation.

“We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and we are committed to learning from the Covid Inquiry’s findings which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future.”

Johnson announced his resignation in July 2022, marking the end of his time at the top of UK politics.

His decision to step down follows a string of controversies that eroded trust in his leadership, from the “Partygate” lockdown scandal to a severe cost-of-living crisis to complaints about his handling of sexual misconduct claims against a top political appointee.

Nearly 60 ministers and aides had quit the government in less than 48 hours before Johnson resigned, saying he was no longer fit to remain in charge.

The Post has reached out to the Conservative Party and Johnson’s office for comment.