Jeremy Clarkson hits out at ‘communists’ enforcing lockdowns and says: ‘If you die, you die’

Clarkson slammed lockdown restrictions (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Jeremy Clarkson has criticised Covid-19 lockdowns, saying: ‘If you die, you die.’

The Grand Tour host has referred to the scientists at Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), who have provided scientific advice for the government throughout the pandemic, as ‘communists’ who need to ‘get back in their box’, while commenting on the lockdowns the UK has been placed under over the past year and a half. 

Speaking to the Radio Times, Clarkson, 61, said: ‘I think the politicians should sometimes tell those communists at Sage to get back in their box. Let’s just all go through life with our fingers crossed and a smile on our face. 

‘I can see Boris doesn’t want to open it up and shut us back down again. But if it’s going to be four years… and who knows, it could be 40 years.’

Adding that he read that it could be ‘forever’, Clarkson said: ‘Well, if it’s going to be for ever, let’s open it up and if you die, you die.’

This is despite the star saying he was worried he was going to die from Covid when he contracted it over Christmas in 2020.

He told The Times: ‘The doctor was very clear: I’d feel under the weather for between five and 14 days and then I’d either get better or I’d have to go to hospital. 

Lockdown restrictions have ended in England (Picture: Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

‘Where, because I am 60 and fat, and because I’ve smoked half a million cigarettes and had double pneumonia, I’d probably die, on my own, in a lonely plastic tent.’

He isolated with his family over Christmas at a cottage where he ‘took [himself] off to bed […] to wait for the Grim Reaper to pop his head round the door. I’m not going to lie — it was quite scary.’

While Clarkson ended up getting a mild case of the virus, he added: ‘With every illness I’ve had, there has always been a sense that medicine and time would eventually ride to the rescue, but with Covid-19 you have to lie there, on your own, knowing that medicine is not on its way and that time is your worst enemy.’

The Grand Tour’s lockdown special is out (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 130,000 people in the UK have died from the virus, with over 5.9million cases registered.

All restrictions in England were lifted on July 19. 

Clarkson also previously spoke about the ‘intense’ risks of filming his, Richard Hammond and James May’s The Grand Tour special in between lockdowns last year. 

More: Coronavirus

The Grand Tour Presents: Lochdown has premiered on Amazon Prime Video, and sees the trio embarking on an adventure around Scotland.

Clarkson has another hit on his hands at the streamer with Clarkson’s Farm, which has been renewed for a second series after positive reviews from both fans and critics.

Clarkson’s full interview is available in the Radio Times. 

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