Malcolm Tucker eat your heart out.
If you haven’t seen Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt out and about recently, that’s because there’s a junior doctors’ strike going on and he doesn’t want to talk about it. As the Health Secretary. In charge of the NHS.
Instead he wheels out Norman Williams, his senior clinical advisor, to answer questions on his behalf about why junior doctors are unhappy about their pay, and working hours that they claim will compromise patient safety.
But Williams isn’t alone. He is accompanied by a Conservative Party press officer who acts as his bodyguard, should the nasty public want answers to serious questions about the strain on those charged with saving their lives.
Whilst Williams was taking part in a LIVE Sky News interview, reporter Darren McCaffey asked him on LIVE television:
“Do you feel it’s good that doctors on the eve of the national strike, and indeed the people who use the NHS, aren’t able to hear from the secretary [Jeremy Hunt]?”
At which point, the spin doctor butted in by saying:
“Hang on a second – we’re not doing this nonsense. We agreed a series of questions…”
Presumably not realised it was…LIVE.
McCaffey continued admirably despite the interruption, but perhaps the government could do with some medical assistance to treat the bruised egos in this cringeworthy exchange…
