Noel Gallagher claims pandemic is ‘classless’ because ‘everybody’s in the same boat’

‘People’s surroundings might be different, you know, I might have a bigger back garden than you, but really everybody’s in the same boat,’ Oasis star says

Noel Gallagher has claimed that everyone has shared the same experience during the coronavirus pandemic, calling it a “classless” situation.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, the former Oasis star said he was “sick and tired” of seeing celebrities trying to be positive about lockdown.

“My children have really suffered, my wife has suffered,” he said. “It’s been a terrible thing, but no different to anyone else.”

“The thing about the pandemic is it’s classless,” he continued.

“Everybody’s in the same boat, really. OK, people’s surroundings might be different, you know, I might have a bigger back garden than you, but really everybody’s in the same boat.

“We’ve all lost contact with loved ones and it’s gonna take a while for us to get that back and get back into the rhythm of life.”

(PA)

In January, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that care-home workers, nurses, chefs, restaurant managers, nurses and bus drivers were among those most likely to die from Covid-19.

A number of comment pieces in national newspapers said that the pandemic had highlighted social inequalities, while the Trades Union Congress warned in May that the shift to home working highlighted “a new class divide”.

In October last year, research showed that working-class women had been the hardest hit by the first lockdown, with almost half found to have done no hours of work in April last year, compared to one in five women working in professional or managerial roles.

Professor Clare Lyonette, who worked with the Women’s Budget Group on research that examines employment and mental health during the first three months of lockdown, told The Independent: “We have two groups of women in this working-class group. Firstly working-class women who were more likely to be on furlough because they are disproportionately working in sectors which have been locked down.

“Secondly, women in stressful key worker frontline roles where they could be coming into contact with the virus. These are much more risky environments and they are often having to travel to work on public transport. Combine that with homeschooling, a lack of childcare from family and friends and possibly partners also working in key worker roles.”

Many celebrities were criticised last year for complaining that they were bored during lockdown.

In April last year, TV host Ellen DeGeneres received a backlash for comparing lockdown to jail, with one critic responding: “You quarantining in your mansion in designer sweats is nothing like prison.”

Earlier this week, Gallagher hit out at Prince Harry for his comments about the royal family, claiming he sympathised with Prince William because he has “a younger brother shooting his f***ing mouth off”.

“Just don’t be f***ing dissing your family because there’s no need for it,” he told The Sun.