London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Boris Johnson criticised over reaction to sick boy image

Boris Johnson has been criticised after initially refusing to look at a picture of a sick four-year-old boy who had to sleep on the floor of a Leeds hospital.

The picture in the Daily Mirror of Jack, who had suspected pneumonia, spurred complaints about NHS cuts.

An ITV reporter tried to show Mr Johnson the picture on his phone, but he refused to look, before taking the device and putting it in his pocket.

He later looked and returned the phone.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: "He just doesn't care", while Independent Group for Change leader Anna Soubry called his actions "appalling".

Mr Johnson was asked by other reporters why he had not looked at the photo, but he did not answer the question directly, instead repeating Conservative pledges for the NHS and promising to rebuild "the whole of Leeds General Infirmary from top to bottom".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock later visited the hospital to speak to management about the case.

He said he was "horrified" by the incident involving Jack, adding: "It's not good enough and I have apologised."

But Mr Hancock would not comment on the PM's reaction, saying: "What people care about is what are we doing to improve care at Leeds General and across the NHS."

As he left, the health secretary was met by a group of protesters shouting at him.

The boy's mother has said she does not want her son's treatment being used as a "political football".

In a formal complaint to press regulator IPSO, she said she had initially given permission to two newspapers to use her son Jack's image but - after the story was widely reported across other news outlets - she now wanted to prevent any further publication of the picture or his details.

In her letter, she said the actions of the media were "causing significant distress" to Jack and his family.

Jack was taken into Leeds General Infirmary last week after being ill for six days, his mother told the Mirror.

His mother said he had been seen as soon as he arrived and given a bed and oxygen, but a few hours later the bed had to be given to another patient and Jack was left without one for more than four hours.

His mother said she then made a makeshift bed for her son with coats and took the picture.

She told the newspaper the doctors and nurses were "lovely people", but she was "angry at the lack of funding and the lack of beds", accusing the government of "failing our children".

Dr Yvette Oade, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Our hospitals are extremely busy at the moment and we are very sorry that Jack's family had a long wait in our emergency department.

"We are extremely sorry that there were only chairs available in the treatment room, and no bed. This falls below our usual high standards, and for this we would like to sincerely apologise to Jack and his family."

ITV reporter Joe Pike tweeted about his interview with Mr Johnson, which took place in Grimsby on the campaign trail.

He asked the PM to look at the photo of Jack on his phone several times.

Mr Johnson said he had not seen the picture yet but refused to look at it while Mr Pike questioned him.

Eventually, he took Mr Pike's phone and put it in his pocket, saying: "If you don't mind, I'll give you an interview now."


'What's your response?'

Mr Pike said: "You refuse to look at the photo. You've taken my phone and put it in your pocket, prime minister.

"His mother says the NHS is in crisis. What's your response to that?"

Mr Johnson then removed the phone from his pocket and looked at the screen.

"It's a terrible, terrible photo, and I apologise, obviously, to the family, and all those who have terrible experiences in the NHS," he said.

"But what we are doing is supporting the NHS, and on the whole I think patients in the NHS have a much, much better experience than this poor kid has had.

"That's why we're making huge investments into the NHS, and we can only do it if we get Parliament going, if we unblock the current deadlock, and we move forward."

The PM then apologised to Mr Pike for taking his phone and returned it.

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth called refusing to look at the picture "a new low" for the PM, adding: "It's clear he could not care less.

"Don't give this disgrace of a man five more years of driving our NHS into the ground. Sick toddlers like Jack deserve so much better."

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson also said Mr Johnson would not look at the photo because "he simply does not care".

She tweeted: "He doesn't care about Jack. He doesn't care about anyone other than himself."

And the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, called Mr Johnson "a man with no empathy and no moral compass".

He tweeted: "The picture of the young boy in Leeds is horrific. His unwillingness to even show remorse proves just how unfit he is to serve as prime minister."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×