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Tuesday 10 December 2019 14:44
Boris Johnson is facing new questions about the state of the NHS after The Independent revealed a 12-year-old with learning disabilities and mental health issues had to stay in an Essex hospital A&E for 57 hours for a specialist bed to become available.
Mr Johnson remains under fire for his apparent lack of empathy for a four-year-old boy who slept on a hospital floor. It comes as the father of London Bridge attack victim Jack Merritt accused Mr Johnson of using his son’s death as “an opportunity” and said there was “no attempt” to contact the family from Downing Street.
Labour have accused the Conservatives of lying about an alleged assault on health secretary Matt Hancock’s aide in a bid to distract attention from the NHS crisis, while Jeremy Corbyn denied his party was using the case of the four-year-old boy as a “political football”.
Father of Jack Merritt says PM saw his son’s death as ‘an opportunity’
David Merritt, father of Jack Merritt, has accused Boris Johnson of using his son’s death in the London Bridge attack as “an opportunity”.
He has been speaking to Sky News about the 25-year-old’s death and the aftermath.
“Instead of a tragedy, Boris Johnson saw an opportunity,” said Mr Merritt. “He went on the offensive and saw the opportunity to score some points … At that point I had to say something.”
“I look on Twitter on the Saturday and already there was discussion about what it meant … immediately people started jumping on the criminal justice bandwagon, advocating longer sentences and harsher penalties. And I knew how passionate [Jack] was about rehabilitation. I thought it was important to just push back against that narrative.”
Asked about Johnson’s comments on sentencing and release, he said: “What was required was just a dignified approach whereby the politicians would expressed their regrets … and get on with the election campaign.”
He said the prime minister made no effort to contact him before using his death to justify tougher sentencing.
Asked if he found Johnson’s remarks offensive, Mr Merritt said. “I did. There was attempt to reference us. No attempt to contact us and discuss this with us or with anybody else.”
Alastair Campbell attacks ‘Boris Johnson propaganda machine’ for leaked Ashworth recording
Former Labour communications chief Alastair Campbell has been talking about shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth’s leaked comments on Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s fortunes.
“Jonathan’s been put into quite a difficult position with it,” he said.
“The public can see through some of this. Guido Fawkes used to be a journalist but is now part of the whole sort of Boris Johnson propaganda machine. They’ve probably been sitting on it for a while waiting for a difficult moment – which is what happened yesterday.”
Ed Davey: Lib Dems would only support Tories or Labour ‘issue by issue’
The Lib Dems’ deputy leader Sir Ed Davey has said his party wouldn’t be going into coalition with either of the big two parties.
“We’re not going to vote for Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn. What we are going to do is vote issue by issue,” he said on the BBC’s Politics Live.
He denied there had been a major change in the party’s strategy, a quietening of the revoke Article 50 pledge. Reading from the Lib Dem manifesto, Davey said there would only revoke Article 50 if they form a majority government.
“We say that in other circumstances we continue to fight for a people’s vote. We have been saying that from day one.”
Police receive nearly 200 reports over candidate safety
Almost 200 reports were made to police over parliamentary candidate safety in less than three weeks during the election campaign.
Around half of the 198 reports made between November 15 and December 4 were serious enough to be treated as crimes, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.
Most of the incidents were allegations of malicious communications online. There were also reports of criminal damage and harassment. Three were reports of assaults against campaign volunteers but none against parliamentary hopefuls and the incidents were not thought to be serious.
A third of reports came from campaign volunteers and staff, with the remainder coming from candidates themselves, the NPCC said.
Government aide suggests voters do not ‘really care’ about cancer waiting times
A Tory candidate and government aide has suggested that people only ‘really care’ about cancer survival rates, and not about waiting times.
Chris Philp, who is seeking re-election as the MP for Croydon South, said it was a “good thing” that diagnosis times were going up because it was a result of more people getting screened.
Philp is the parliamentary aide to Robert Buckland, the justice secretary.
Full story:
Ashworth apologises to Labour members
Jonathan Ashworth has apologised to Labour members over a leaked recording of him offering a frank assessment of the party’s electoral prospects.
The shadow health secretary insisted that, during the conversation with a Tory activist friend, he was trying to make the Conservatives “complacent” by suggesting that Labour was set to lose the general election.
He told BBC’s Politics Live: “He’s a Tory activist with friends in CCHQ and I’m trying to say to him ‘these are your attack lines – they are working’. I’m trying to make one of my friends, who is a Tory opponent, complacent.
“In the cold light of day, when those quotes are read out, I look stupid and I apologise to the Labour Party and party members.”
He added: “Of course it’s embarrassing – I look a right plonker.”
Corbyn denies politicising case of sick Leeds boy
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has addressed another rally – this time in Nelson, Lancashire, before answering questions on the case of sick Jack Williment-Barr, the NHS adopting a four day week and tactical voting.
“A four-year-old boy being treated on the floor in a hospital – doesn’t that say an awful lot about of national health service? That there’s such a shortage of staff … That it’s not right.”
PM’s oven-ready deal will give us ‘years of indigestion,’ says Farage
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said he will spoil his ballot at on Thursday. In his home constituency the Brexit Party is not standing a candidate against the incumbent Conservative.
Farage again attacked the prime minister’s Brexit deal and defended his decision to stand down his party’s candidates in Tory-held seats as “the right thing to do”.
He added: “It was a case of putting country before party. But since that time, I know it is very rare to have an appearance from Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn but on Friday night, he has gone the wrong way.
Referring to his “oven-ready deal,” Farage said: “All I can say is that will lead to many long years of indigestion because we will be trapped inside an international treaty. We have given Michel Barnier the upper hand.”
Fake story aimed at undermining photo of boy on hospital floor shared on Twitter and Facebook
Thousands of Facebook and Twitter accounts have shared an entirely false claim that the photograph of the sick four-year-old boy forced to sleep on a hospital floor was staged or fake.
Leeds General Infirmary has confirmed that incident took place and has apologised to the family of Jack Williment-Barr.
Our technology editor Andrew Griffin has taken a look at how the fake story spread.
Jonathan Ashworth pulls out of BBC interview
Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has pulled out of a planned interview of Radio 5 Live with Emma Barnett.
It follows the leaked comments he made about Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s potential election fortunes.
Barnett said: “He wanted to speak about that photo that was published yesterday and Labour’s criticisms of the Conservative handling of the NHS. We’re now told we can’t speak to him. We haven’t been given a reason why.”
Remainers pulling together to remove the DUP in key seats
Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance are hoping the Remain vote will help them remove senior DUP figures in several seats in Northern Ireland.
Ben Kelly has taken a look at the pro-Remain parties hopes of changing the picture in Belfast.
PM accused of stealing Labour candidate’s Love Actually parody
Boris Johnson has been accused of stealing a Labour MP’s Love Actually parody in his new election campaign video.
The PM posted a clip of himself acting out a famous scene from the 2003 festive romantic drama, in which he appears on an apathetic voter’s doorstep armed with a stack of placards.
But Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour’s candidate for Tooting, in London, said Johnson had copied her spoof. She tweeted: “Tanks. On. The. Lawn. Don’t share his version in outrage – instead, share my original version.”
Tories claim shadow minister’s leaked recording ‘devastating’
Both Boris Johnson and the Conservative party chairman James Cleverly has commented on shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth’s leaked comments about Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s potential election fortunes.
Cleverly said it was an “honest and truly devastating assessment of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership by one of his most trusted election lieutenants”.
Our correspondent Jon Stone has taken a look at Ashworth’s comments and the reaction this morning.
Labour and Tory NHS spending assessed
Statista have taken a look at recent Labour and Tory government spending on the health service (based on IFS and Health Foundation figures).
It shows the Labour government of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown invested well above the annual average 3.7 per cent real growth rates in public spending on health.
Owen Jones challenges Boris backer: ‘Is ‘bum boy’ homophobic?’
Labour-supporter commentator Owen Jones and Boris Johnson-backing campaigner Nimco Ali have been at odds on Boris Johnson’s use of the phrase “tank-topped bum boys” in a 1998 column.
Jones asked: “If you heard someone yelling at a gay person “bum boy,” would you accept that’s homophobic?”
Ali replied: “If I heard someone yelling it I would step in and say, “That’s unacceptable”.”
Jones said: “Why can’t you say it’s homophobic? I don’t get it.”
Ali replied: “Because he [Johnson] is not a homophobe,” before she went on argue it “depends on the context”.
‘Banter’: Shadow health secretary dismisses leaked comments he made critical of Corbyn
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth has just endured a very awkward interview with Victory Derbyshire on the BBC. The shadow health secretary dismissed as “banter” leaked comments in which he was heard criticising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The Guido Fawkes website published an audio recording of remarks made by Ashworth in which he said the civil service machine would “pretty quickly move to safeguard security” if Corbyn entered No 10.
Ashworth insisted he was joking with a Tory friend and did not mean what he said. Asked about comments in which he said Labour “f***** it up” in keeping Corbyn as its leader, he said: “We’re having banter with each other – we’re joking around.
“No I don’t mean it because I’m joking around with my mate because he’s a Tory… If you leak it to Guido Fawkes of course it makes me look like a right plonker but it’s not what I mean when I’m winding up a friend – I’m trying to sort of pull his leg a bit.”
‘I want to wake up to a Labour government,’ says Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn has been speaking to supporters in Bolton, outside the town’s community centre, on the first of a number of campaign stops across the north-west.
“We have now got until Thursday night to win this election. Thursday night to save the NHS. Thursday night to end child poverty in Britain. Thursday night to end homelessness in Britain. Thursday night to build the houses that we need. Thursday night to get a government you can trust that will actually represent people.”
Attacking the Tories on the health service, said: “We will not sell our NHS to anybody. It is simply not for sale.”
Corbyn concluded: “I want to wake up on Friday morning, if I get to sleep at all on Thursday night, to see that we have got a Labour government, that we have got a Labour majority and that the great work that’s in this manifesto we then start work on Friday morning making sure those changes come about. And all of us have to work together to make sure we achieve them.”
Sturgeon: NHS in Scotland ‘performing better’ than elsewhere
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has claimed the NHS in Scotland was “performing better” than the health services are in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Defending the SNP’s record on health, Scotland’s first minister said: “I’m not sitting here saying it’s job done in Scotland or that we are meeting those targets, the point I’m making is that we are making more progress in terms of building the capacity, doing the reforms in our health service that is required.”
On supporting any possible Labour government, Sturgeon said: “We would offer support to a minority Labour government, the conditions for that we’ve set out very clearly in our manifesto.
“An end to austerity, an end to the welfare cuts that have caused so much misery, to so many people and yes respect for the principle that the question of whether there should be an independence referendum and the timing of that should be decided by the Scottish parliament elected by the Scottish people and not dictated by Westminster.”
Commie hats and Maoist bicycles: Corbyn reads out mean tweets
While Boris Johnson tweeted his Love Actually parody, Jeremy Corbyn posted his own pop culture-themed video on Monday evening.
In a video entitled “Mean Tweets with Jeremy Corbyn”, the Labour leader read out critical tweets about him in a format popularised by US late-night chat host Jimmy Kimmel.
The Labour leader sat by a fireplace and read out critical tweets about him and his campaign.
Corbyn replied: “What is a commie hat? I wear a cap! It’s a bit like when I was told I was riding a Maoist bicycle. It’s a bicycle!”
Reading read out a tweet about being found sexy, he said: “Oh God this is bad.”
Economy stagnant, latest official figures show
The UK economy failed to expand in October as official figures revealed zero month-on-month growth.
But the data showed an improvement on the decline in gross domestic product (GDP) seen in August and September, when it fell by 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said growth also stagnated on a rolling three-month basis in October, which is seen as being less volatile than the monthly data.
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