Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton says the UK government’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic has been “appalling”, reckoning thousands of additional lives have been lost.
In the United Kingdom there have been 40,542 deaths recorded with coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic, with the country one of the worst affected in the world.
Its borders have remained open throughout and only today (June 8) has a mandatory 14-day quarantine period been introduced for international arrivals.
“I’m appalled at the UK government on how they have handled Covid,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram.
“You should have closed the borders months ago. How can you let people fly in from countries without being tested is baffling.
“You could have saved thousands of lives. We need better leaders!”
Hamilton also continued to voice his support for those who have taken to the streets to support racial equality, with several demonstrations having taken place in the UK this past weekend.
In Bristol protestors removed a statue of Edward Colston before throwing it in a nearby waterway.
Colston was a member of the Royal African Company, which had a prominent role in the slave trade in the 17th and 18th Centuries, and his legacy is still present in the city courtesy of buildings and streets named after him.
“I’m watching the news today regarding the statue torn down yesterday,” he continued.
“If those people hadn’t taken down that statue honouring a racist slave trader, it would never have been removed.
“There’s talks of it going into a museum. That man’s statue should stay in the river just like the 20,000 African souls who died on the journey here and [were] thrown into the sea, with no burial or memorial.
“He stole them from their families, country and he must not be celebrated! It should be replaced with a memorial for all those he sold, all those that lost their lives!!”
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