Boris Johnson snatched away a reporter’s phone when he tried to show him a photo of a 4-year-old boy forced to lie on a hospital floor

• Boris Johnson snatched away a reporter’s phone when he tried to show the prime minister a photo of a 4-year-old boy forced to lie on a pile of coats in hospital.
• The prime minister refused to look at the photo and then took it away from the reporter and put it in his pocket.
• The photo came as recent statistics show the National Health Service struggling to cope.
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LONDON – Boris Johnson snatched away a reporter’s phone after he challenged the prime minister to look at a picture of a 4-year-old boy who was forced to sleep on a hospital floor,

The bizarre incident saw the prime minister, who refused to look at the photo, grab the reporter’s phone and put it in his pocket for part of the interview.

The boy, Jack Williment-Barr, was reportedly forced to lie on a pile of coats in a hospital in Leeds, while waiting for more than four hours to be seen for suspected pneumonia.

Watch Boris Johnson grab a reporter’s phone

Johnson said he had “every sympathy” for the child, whose picture was revealed by the Daily Mirror on Monday, but refused to look at the picture and then took it from the reporter and put it in his pocket.

After being pushed repeatedly by ITV News’ Joe Pike, he added that “It’s a terrible, terrible picture and I apologise of course to the family.”

Responding to the footage, Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said:

“Refusing to even look at an image of a child suffering because of Conservative cuts to the NHS is a new low for Boris Johnson. 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.”