Nigel Farage says lockdown ‘doing greater harm to country’

Nigel Farage said he feared that “economically and socially” the latest coronavirus restrictions were doing “greater harm” than the Government realise. He said he was not actually convinced that lockdowns worked, adding that he was “pretty fearful” of the consequences the public health measures could have. The former UKIP leader added that while he does not “underestimate” the seriousness of the virus he believed the country must find “some way of life continuing.”

Asked by talkRADIO host Julia Hartley-Brewer whether the current lockdown restrictions were justified and should continue, Mr Farage said: “Well, the one big difference between now and last spring, and I know I’m feeling is I know a lot more people who are suffering because of Covid right now then I did back then.

“Indeed two people I know have died this week with Covid. So I don’t underestimate how serious the virus is.

“I can also see just going around there’s a lot more fear in people then there has been for a very long time.

“But I have to weigh against that the mailbag that I get every day through my website and I have to say it is making very very depressing reading.” 

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The Reform UK leader added: “Elderly people living on their own giving up hope, peoples whose businesses are collapsing and they are all writing to me asking me to help them and I wish I could help them all.

“Cancer operations being cancelled and when you hear Chris Whitty and people like this saying that actually into next winter we might face lockdowns, mask-wearing I just have this feeling that economically and socially we are actually doing greater harm than anyone in the Government actually realises.

“I am pretty fearful where this is going to take us.

“So what have we got to do? Well, we have to find some way of life continuing and I’m not actually convinced that lockdowns work.”

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Mr Farage continued: “Does social-distancing make sense? does actually wearing a mask in a shop makes sense? Yes, as much as I hate it, it probably does.

“But I think if we are going to go on with this lockdown mentality than genuinely the cure will prove to be worse than the disease.

“So we are in a very very bad place.”

It comes as the Government’s top scientist said that the high coronavirus death toll will not “reduce quickly” as the senior ministers looks at rolling out new tighter Tier 6 restrictions across the country. 

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On Wednesday a total of 1,564 deaths were confirmed within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.

That was the highest number of UK deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began.

Speaking to ITV‘s Peston, Sir Patrick said: “I’m afraid we’re in a period of high death numbers that’s going to carry on for some weeks, it’s not going to come down quickly even if the measures that are in place now start to reduce the infection numbers.

“So we’re in for a pretty grim period, I’m afraid,” he continued.

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