Tory peer Lord McColl blames FAT PEOPLE for the UK’s high coronavirus death toll

Tory peer Lord McColl blames FAT PEOPLE for the UK’s high coronavirus death toll saying it is ‘despicable’ to blame politicians for the more than 41,000 dead

  • Former surgeon  87, said UK’s high Covid-19 death rate not Government’s fault 
  • He said attaching blame to Boris Johnson ‘s administration was ‘despicable’ 
  • Said obesity, population density and international travel created perfect storm

A Tory peer said it was ‘despicable’ to  blame the government for thousands of coronavirus deaths – blaming them on fat people.

Former surgeon Lord McColl of Dulwich, 87, said Britain’s high Covid-19 death rate is not the Government’s fault but partly because the ‘majority of people are obese’. 

He said attaching blame to Boris Johnson’s administration was ‘despicable’ and ‘propaganda (that) simply demoralises the public’.

Speaking in House of Lords debate today he also blamed population density and the country’s status as a travel hub for creating a perfect storm of conditions. 

He told a debate on coronavirus regulations: ‘As a doctor, I am very, very concerned about preventative medicine.

‘What was clear about the pandemic early on was that the majority of those afflicted had many medical conditions that made them much more vulnerable to Covid.

‘Obesity and Covid is a very dangerous combination and the reason for this is obesity impairs the immune system.

‘The reason the high mortality in the UK is because the majority of people are obese, and the population is the densest in Europe and moreover is the travel hub of Europe.

Former surgeon Lord McColl of Dulwich, 87, said Britain’s high Covid-19 death rate is not the Government’s fault but partly because the ‘majority of people are obese’

He said attaching blame to Boris Johnson's administration was 'perverse'.

He said attaching blame to Boris Johnson’s administration was ‘perverse’.

‘Blaming the Government for the high mortality is therefore one of the most despicable allegations I’ve heard in this pandemic.

‘That kind of propaganda simply demoralises the public.

The UK death toll is more than 41,700, with separate figures published by the statistics agencies showing 57,500 cases where Covid-19 was mentioned on a death certificate.

Lord McColl also urged Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to join Boris Johnson’s drive to reduce obesity in order to ‘reduce the mortality in future pandemics’. 

The per has previously hit out as fat Britons. In February last year he suggested Royal Navy submarines should be equipped with wider escape hatches in future because British sailors are getting too fat to fit. 

The Tory blasted the UK’s plump personnel, saying that ejector seats on modern fighter jets have also had to be designed to cope with heavier pilots.

The former professor of surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Medical School, who was a  junior health minister under John Major, spoke in a House of Lords debate on eating disorders.