UK PM Johnson criticised for response to photo of sick child

By Kylie MacLellan

 

Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative leader Boris Johnson talks with journalists as he travels aboard a plane bound to Birmingham, Britain, December 9, 2019. Ben Stansall/Pool via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire on Monday for his response to being shown a photo of a sick child lying on a hospital floor ahead of the Dec. 12 election.

 

Johnson's Conservatives lead the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls, with Brexit and the future of the country's public health service the two most prominent campaign issues.

 

During an interview, an ITV reporter repeatedly tried to show Johnson a picture on his phone of the 4-year-old boy lying on a pile of coats, which featured on the front page of the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror.

 

The newspaper said the boy had suspected pneumonia and had to be treated on the floor because there were no beds available.

 

Johnson initially avoided looking at the phone, and instead began describing his investment plans for the National Health Service (NHS) while saying he had not had a chance to see the photo.

 

The reporter said Johnson then took his phone and put it in his pocket.

 

When challenged, Johnson took the phone out, looked at it and said: "It is a terrible, terrible photo, and I apologise obviously to the family and all those who have terrible experiences in the NHS, but what we are doing is supporting the NHS.

 

"On the whole I think patients in the NHS have a much, much better experience than this poor kid has had," he added, before saying: "I am sorry to have taken your phone."

 

Opposition parties were quick to share the footage on social media, saying it showed Johnson had no empathy for patients.

 

Health minister Matt Hancock later made an unscheduled visit to the hospital in the central English city of Leeds, saying he had been "horrified" by the picture.

 

Asked if he had come because the Conservatives were panicked by the possible impact of the photo on the campaign, Hancock said: "No, what people want to see is the substance of increased investment...making sure we are dealing with the problems."

 

BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg said on Twitter that Hancock was greeted by a group of protesting Labour activists, one of whom had punched his adviser. She later revised this account, posting a video in which one of Hancock's team simply appeared to bump into the outstretched arm of a protester.

 

Separately, during a campaign visit near the northeastern city of Sunderland, a target for the Conservatives, Johnson was taken to task by a voter who challenged his party over a spoof website meant to distract voters from Labour's policy programme.

 

Timed to coincide with the launch of Labour's manifesto last month, the website, http://www.labourmanifesto.co.uk, accuses the party of having "no plan for Brexit", proposing higher taxes and planning two more referendums.

 

Asked if it was fear of Labour that made his party set up the website, Johnson said: "I'm afraid the short answer to that question is that I haven't got the foggiest idea."

 

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Mark Heinrich)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-10

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He was set up. That is the kind of government Labour will be. 

46 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

He was set up. That is the kind of government Labour will be. 

He refused to even look at the picture of the sick boy sleeping on the floor of the hospital.

He could at least pretend to care.

But then he has a couple of children and seems not even to know how many - and some UK voters still want him. Amazing UK!

 

 

I've voted to keep out the tories in my marginal Stroud constituency. If only Labour had a half-decent leader, he'd walk all over Johnson. But there again, there's not one leading politician apart from Rory Stewart (IND) who is capable of telling the truth as it is.

 

What a frigging shambles the UK has become.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

He refused to even look at the picture of the sick boy sleeping on the floor of the hospital.

He could at least pretend to care.

But then he has a couple of children and seems not even to know how many - and some UK voters still want him. Amazing UK!

Watch the video, Boris looked at the picture at length, more disinformation.

43 minutes ago, vogie said:

Watch the video, Boris looked at the picture at length, more disinformation.

In the video Boris refuses to look at picture. Puts the phone in his pocket.

After being questioned by the Journalist takes the phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen before handing back the phone

Just now, cleopatra2 said:

In the video Boris refuses to look at picture. Puts the phone in his pocket.

After being questioned by the Journalist takes the phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen before handing back the phone

Did Boris look at the image?

If I wanted a political figure to tend the sick I'd expect them at the very least to put on a nurse's uniform. This endless obsession with expecting other people to virtue signal - and we all know it's meaningless - is nauseating

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Opposition parties were quick to share the footage on social media, saying it showed Johnson had no empathy for patients.

To be fair, it’s not just patients, johnson has no empathy for anyone but himself. 

11 minutes ago, vogie said:

Did Boris look at the image?

Johnson not only refused to look at the image he literally confiscated the journalist phone.

It was only after the journalist explained what  he had done did Boris decide to look at the phone

The left wouldn't put fake photo's of someone on the floor now would they, or would they.????

 

 

2 minutes ago, vogie said:

The left wouldn't put fake photo's of someone on the floor now would they, or would they.????

 

 

Are you claiming the picture that is actually related to this story is “fake”?

1 minute ago, cleopatra2 said:

Johnson not only refused to look at the image he literally confiscated the journalist phone.

It was only after the journalist explained what  he had done did Boris decide to look at the phone

Your take on it is purely academic anyway, some more paedatrician nurses have come forward and claimed the the photo is 100% fake, what's that you say, people would never stoop so low to do such a thing.????

3 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Are you claiming the picture that is actually related to this story is “fake”?

It's looking that way.

This manufactured non story will make no difference whatsoever to Friday's result.

Bring it on ????

1 hour ago, vogie said:

Watch the video, Boris looked at the picture at length, more disinformation.

Yeah, watch it!

 

10 minutes ago, evadgib said:

This manufactured non story will make no difference whatsoever to Friday's result.

Bring it on ????

I’ve been busy working with Labour’s campaign promoting voter registration, despite which I have no idea what Friday’s result will be. 

 

You seem even to think you do.

27 minutes ago, vogie said:

It's looking that way.

Link to a credible source supporting that claim, please

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’ve been busy working with Labour’s campaign promoting voter registration, despite which I have no idea what Friday’s result will be. 

 

You seem even to think you do.

It's pretty clear that the tories will gain the most seats, but whether they'll have an overall majority is uncertain. To be honest, if they manage to force through brexit, and Corbyn resigns, there's every possibility they'll be defending their insane approach for the next decade. In the meantime, the UK will be a sinking ship. Glad I'm out of it.

9 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Link to a credible source supporting that claim, please

Are there such things as credible sources anymore, I'd struggle to think of one, this whole election campaign has been run on lies and deception, especially from the left. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Whether you want to believe some paediatrician nurses is entirely up to you, Allison Pearson a columnist from the Telegraph will be running a story tomorrow on why it is 100% fake news.

 

 

31 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’ve been busy working with Labour’s campaign promoting voter registration, despite which I have no idea what Friday’s result will be. 

 

You seem even to think you do.

Your kiss of death strengthens that belief! ????

2 minutes ago, vogie said:

Are there such things as credible sources anymore, I'd struggle to think of one, this whole election campaign has been run on lies and deception, especially from the left. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Whether you want to believe some paediatrician nurses is entirely up to you, Allison Pearson a columnist from the Telegraph will be running a story tomorrow on why it is 100% fake news.

 

 

So no credible sources then. 
 

Thought so. 

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

He refused to even look at the picture of the sick boy sleeping on the floor of the hospital.

Wrong.

 

19 minutes ago, vogie said:

Are there such things as credible sources anymore, I'd struggle to think of one, this whole election campaign has been run on lies and deception, especially from the left. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Whether you want to believe some paediatrician nurses is entirely up to you, Allison Pearson a columnist from the Telegraph will be running a story tomorrow on why it is 100% fake news.

 

 

If fake why did the hospital director apologise for having no trolleys available.

 

5 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

If fake why did the hospital director apologise for having no trolleys available.

 

Probably protocol.

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

He refused to even look at the picture of the sick boy sleeping on the floor of the hospital.

He could at least pretend to care.

But then he has a couple of children and seems not even to know how many - and some UK voters still want him. Amazing UK!

 

 

Soooooo, pretending to care is acceptable? Not in my book. He probably knew he was being set up, and tried to avoid falling into the trap, but he should have just walked away when the reporter was abusing his opportunity to get a "gotcha  photo. Some reporters are <deleted>.

The NHS is a decaying monster that is only still working because Gordon Brown wasted 6 billion quid on it.

They need to set up a slim line NHS that only looks after accidents, things like cataracts and disease. All the rest should go private. They also need to sack about 90% of the managers, and break the consultants power over the NHS.

I was appalled at the corruption and waste I saw in my 10 years in the NHS, but the people that run it are the cause of the problem.

2 minutes ago, vogie said:

Probably protocol.

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/lgi-bosses-apologise-after-four-17385357

 

Stop being a purveyor of propaganda

1 hour ago, vogie said:

Your take on it is purely academic anyway, some more paedatrician nurses have come forward and claimed the the photo is 100% fake, what's that you say, people would never stoop so low to do such a thing.????

Erm, don't you mean paediatric nurses? 

13 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

If fake why did the hospital director apologise for having no trolleys available.

 

He shouldn't have. It's not his fault that more patients turned up than were beds and trolleys. Far as I know he's not Harry Potter.

1 hour ago, vogie said:

Your take on it is purely academic anyway, some more paedatrician nurses have come forward and claimed the the photo is 100% fake, what's that you say, people would never stoop so low to do such a thing.????

These nurses are fake

They all used the same sentence word for word. It could not have been more obvious it was copy and paste. 

One of these so called nurses only a few days ago was a forex trader.