Boris Johnson doesn’t have ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ because he caught coronavirus, says Charlie Brooker

The writer is presenting ‘Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe’ on Thursday

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has said that Boris Johnson should not be immune to criticism for his handling of the coronavirus crisis just because he personally contracted the disease.

The TV writer is set to provide a satirical look at the pandemic in Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe, a one-off special of his Screenwipe review series, airing on BBC2 on Thursday 14 May.

Speaking to The Guardian, Brooker admitted to struggling to find humour in such a negative time, saying that he’d even found himself worrying about the Prime Minister during the pandemic.

“If you look at Boris Johnson getting ill, when he was in intensive care, I’m not a fan of Boris Johnson but I was worried about him on some level,” the TV personality said. “He’s a human being with a kid on the way.”

He continued: “Worrying about that doesn’t mean you’re not worried about everything else. It doesn’t mean you’re not critical of things he’s done or decisions he’s taken. And also it doesn’t give him a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“Now he’s back in the saddle, it doesn’t mean you can’t criticise the decisions that he’s made.”

Last week, Brooker said that he hoped the pandemic didn’t make “psychotic strongman politicians more secure,” adding: “I pivoted quite early to an optimistic view that this is terrible but, at the end of it, there’s a possibility that we’ll have the stomach to realign society a little.”