Ian Payne 4am - 7am
Maajid Nawaz caller predicts riots if UK is quarantined for coronavirus
29 February 2020, 15:52
With coronavirus hysteria at a high, Maajid Nawaz asked callers if they believe Chinese style quarantining to combat the disease would work in the UK.
Terry from Birmingham called Maajid to express his views on the matter, and concluded that if the government was to implement quarantine, the country would become lawless.
Maajid recalled the Tottenham riots from a few years ago and compared them and the spread of the lawlessness which was put down to opportunism.
He took the coronavirus at the same merit and stated "while we don't perceive it happening, we'd respond in rebellion".
Terry agreed and suggested that any attempt to contain the virus be closing down cities would be futile.
"We've missed the boat" he said. There's no point, in the eyes of Terry, in the UK trying to stop the spread of a virus that is already in the open in the country and may already be being transmitted by people.
Terry also made the point that "we are not China" and it is very unlikely that the British would obey a curfew or quarantine as easily as implemented in China.
Maajid backed up these comments and went back to the idea of riots breaking out on the streets. He imagined criminals coming out at nighttime and attacking vulnerable people. He said this would be an easy target as everyone including the police in this scenario is quarantined.
Terry summed up the argument by saying "we're trying to mitigate the spread of a virus that's already here".