Piers Corbyn claims coronavirus lockdown is 'psychological operation to close down the economy'

The brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has claimed the coronavirus lockdown is a "psychological operation to close down the economy".

Piers Corbyn was arrested and slapped with a £10,000 fine for his part in anti-lockdown protests on Saturday which saw thousands descend on Trafalgar Square.

The 73-year-old, a climate change denier who set up controversial weather forecasting business Weather Action, said on Twitter he had been handed the fixed penalty fine as "organiser".

Asked about his suggestions that Boris Johnson "invented" a virus which might not exist, Mr Corbyn told Good Morning Britain: "I don't know if anyone invented it or not, but I would say that the numbers of people getting whatever they are getting is declining rapidly and there is no justification whatsoever so a continuing lockdown."

He added: "800,000 people have died and have been labelled Covid when it might have been completely something else. It is not a pandemic because the numbers dying are nothing different from a normal year of people dying.

"Secondly, it is not a high-consequence infectious disease, and that was declared by the Government and the World Health Organisation on March 19.

"So what we have is a psychological operation to close down the economy in the interest of mega corporations who are going to gain from massive job losses happening now."

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