Tories desperately – and dangerously – dogpiling father of sick baby who spoiled Boris Johnson’s staged NHS ‘photo opp’
After video went viral of the distraught father of a sick baby taking Boris Johnson to task about NHS cuts, during a staged ‘press opportunity’ arranged for the Tory PM, the Establishment smear machine has gone into overdrive.
BBC politics editor Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that the dad is Omar Salem, a ‘Labour activist’ – triggering a dogpiling of the poor man and potentially putting him and his family at risk of reprisals by Johnson’s far-right supporters.
Mr Salem was not there to meet Boris Johnson, he was there because his week-old baby daughter is desperately ill.
But right-wingers weren’t prepared to stop there – and an image began to circulate claiming that Mr Salem was wearing a microphone:
The image is just a ‘still’ of one frame of the video – and with good reason. Because the claim is instantly exposed as malignant nonsense instantly exposed by an examination of the video footage.
An examination the SKWAWKBOX makes available here:
The evidence is conclusive – and utterly damning of the right and the Establishment frantically trying to cover for Johnson’s shame.
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BBC News 24’s ‘The Papers’ just ended.
Presenter plus two journalists – all three made the point that the father was a ‘Labour activist’ and one asked if he’d have complained if it had been Corbyn standing in front of him ffs.
When have they EVER described anyone attacking Corbyn as a ‘Tory activist’?
If I were a betting man I’d put good money on their never having even asked the question.
As I said in an earlier post, be prepared for attacks on this man’s character.His reputation will be trashed , his social media posts scrutinised and any past misdemeanour will be dragged up and highlighted. He will feel the full force of the Tory dirty tricks department so I hope he will take a leaf out of Jeremy’s book, face them down and shrug off anything they throw at him.
Yes smartboy but we will not forget the BBC when we are an incoming Labour government..revenge is a dish best served cold!
Can you imagine anyone ringing for an Ambulance for your very sick baby and stopping to think” Oh I must get my microphone on in case Johnson comes to the hospital for a photo opportunity?.The world has gone mad
BBC very keen to out the guy as a ‘labour activist’ but couldn’t bring themselves to out the poor troubled NEC workers who had such a bad time as JLM’ers
One labour activist, concerned about the NHS staffing levels employed to look after his child (Plus anyone else that might need looking after throughout the nation) and it’s a ”f**king outrage” that he fronts a leader of a political party, unvetted and unannounced to voice his entirely legitimate concern that ANY father’d have.
Toerag activist plants on each & every episode of QT since 2010, other political shows almost entirely filled with politicos from the cntre-right to the extreme right, with seldom appearances from anyone regarded as the ‘hard left’ that they say is ‘gaining in number’ within the biggest political party in Europe, and kuenssberg and the beeb say f-all about it.
Indeed, not only do they try to brush it under the axminster – they actually continue with that same M.O.
*Scratches head*
Also, makes me wonder if they’ve intruded on the privacy of all those others who’ve had the temerity to front de piffle, unnanounced and unscripted, to find what they consider to be ‘dirt’ on them, too.
Can’t remember exactly who said it (Peter Hitchens I think) but anyway, they were spot on…
”Something’s seriously wrong when the entire media stance is to scrutinise and be critical of the opposition rather than the Government.”
One other thing, if the event was entirely ‘ad hoc’ or impromptu, just HOW would Mr Salem have known to have carried a microphone as well as which part of the hospital de piffle was visiting?
These right wing gobshites make Clouseau look like Poirot. They’re so dense that light bends around them.
For once, Toffee I can totally agree with you. Anyone who knows how these *press* events are staged will know that the details are kept under wraps – even events involving actual selected party activists, where details are only released at the last moment. I avoided a couple of such invitations in the Blair years.
But the trouble is, there are a hell of a lot of dozy duggies out there that will swallow this sort of crap.
Interesting that none picked up the story of a lying ‘Tory activist’ exploiting the sick and their carers.
I’m not sure how Kuenssberg got her job – but she is a marker of how far the BBC’s news output has sunk since the days of, say, John Cole.
She’s banging a Tory who was George Osbournes best man and long time friend. I mean her husband of course I’m not going to comment on the rumours that she is one of Boris’s “conquests”.
Mr Salem would not have known Boris was going to be there.