Could Boris Johnson be accused of criminal negligence if Covid deaths rise sharply after ‘freedom day’?

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson (AFP/Getty)

Our prime minister, for whatever political reasons, not to suggest showmanship, is hellbent on removing most Covid restrictions. His acolytes and adoring Brexit fans will be ecstatic.

As the police have already warned, however, this will unlock a summer of endless parties. NHS doctors have warned of a “Covid explosion” when lockdown restrictions will be lifted, inevitably putting the NHS under severe stress. More than 1,200 scientists from around the world have condemned the prime minister’s decision to forge ahead with the so-called “freedom day”, describing it as “unscientific and unethical”. The UK is seen as a potential super-spreader for the rest of the world, as it already is for the Delta variant by having allowed flights to arrive from India when the door should have been closed much earlier.

Some experts have gone as far as calling it a “murderous” policy. In view of this, could our prime minister be accused of criminal intent? Or, to take this one step further, if our Covid related death rate rises uncontrollably, will there be any legal grounds for taking our prime minister to court for criminal negligence? He apparently has already previously said, one assumes in an unguarded moment, that he does not care if the “bodies pile high”.