Morrissey claims he invented ‘being cancelled’ and compares pandemic society to slavery

Singer-songwriter also said the UK government were acting ‘like Chinese emperors’

Morrissey has criticised the UK’s Covid response, likening it to slavery.

The former Smiths singer-songwriter referred to the disease as “Con-vid” in an outspoken new interview conducted with his nephew, Sam Esty Rayner, which was published on Morrissey’s official website.

“The bigger problem is that nobody can any longer agree with anyone else, and this is the main outcome of Con-vid,” he said. “It has brought the worst out in people, and we weren’t ever in this together.

“We are deprived of seeing and hearing other people, and above all, you want to be with others who see and hear what you see and hear, because this is basic oxygen for the human soul. Take it away and people are dead.”

He was asked whether he thought society during Covid fitted the “precise description of slavery”, the musician replied: “Precisely.”

“And more people are now forced into poverty which is another form of slavery, as is tax and Council Tax and all the other ways in which we are pinned down and tracked,” he continued.

“Our present freedom is restricted to visiting supermarkets and buying sofas. The government act like Chinese emperors… ‘We will allow you to live as we do if you behave yourself.’”

Morrissey has faced criticism in recent years for a number of statements and actions, including when he wore a badge featuring the logo of far-right party For Britain during an appearance on US TV.

Asked about the backlash he has faced recently, Morrissey replied: “You can’t cancel someone who has always been cancelled. When did you last see me on television, or hear me on the radio? I unintentionally invented the condition of being cancelled!”

Last year, it was reported that Morrissey had parted ways with record label BMG, who had released his last three albums. His next album, Bonfire of Teenagers, is out later this year.