‘Who’s dead? I’m not’ – Lord Sugar sparks anger with lockdown comments
Lord Sugar has sparked anger with an interview in which he suggests the UK approach to coming out of lockdown is overly cautious and asks: “Who’s dead? I’m not.”
The entrepreneur spoke out on Jeremy Vine’s show, implying the UK should be more in line with America where restrictions were eased weeks ago.
The Apprentice star, who has been living in Florida, said he had viewed the transition from lockdown to shops and other services reopening in the last six weeks and that nobody he knew had died.
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“Who’s dead? I’m not. I’m still alive,” he said. “My wife, thank God, is still alive.
“So is everybody else I know. No-one else has caught anything.”
"Who's dead? I'm not. I'm still alive. So's everybody else I know."
Lord Alan Sugar tells us why he thinks it's safe for the UK to follow the US's lead in coming out of lockdown.@Lord_Sugar | @TheJeremyVine | #JeremyVine pic.twitter.com/ekAD5QBhJN— Jeremy Vine On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) June 18, 2020
He went on: “So, I suppose it is a bit of a clue there that says that maybe we have reached a peak.
“And maybe it is time for us to follow the example of America, or indeed France that have opened up, or indeed Spain.”
Lord Sugar implied that the fact Boris Johnson had the coronavirus himself may have contributed to him adopting what he sees as a bit of a cautious approach to lifting restrictions.
“I think Prime Minister Johnson unfortunately had a problem himself and I think he’s being a little bit too cautious if you ask me, just slightly,” he said.
The TV star’s comments did not go down well with viewers, who posted messages on social media pointing out the pandemic’s death toll.
“Alan Sugar: ‘Who’s dead?’ Nearly half a million,” tweeted one person.
“'Who's dead? I'm not dead'. Good for you, you daft p***. But over 40,000 ARE dead (55k excess deaths), 440,000 worldwide. Just shut up,” said another.
“Ah ok, so Alan Sugar and everyone he knows is still alive... so it MUST be fine to come out of lockdown then,” said one person.
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Another posted: “According to Alan Sugar, no-one he knows is having that problem so let’s just get on with it.”
“Who knew the vaccine for Covid-19 was just to be known by Alan Sugar?” asked another.