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Helen Channer Aupperlee and Tim Shelton-Jones respond after the PM refused to look at a picture of a sick boy forced to sleep on a hospital floor and pocketed the phone of the reporter who tried to show it to him. Plus letters from Mary Brown and Rick BarkerI like to think that Boris Johnson and I have only one thing in common – both of us are boarding school survivors. When Mr Johnson refused to look at the photo of four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr asleep on a hospital floor (Tories accused of lying to distract from image of boy on hospital floor, 10 December), he was simply doing what boarding school trained him to do – reject his feelings and carry on as though nothing has happened. It is time we took seriously those people who have been shedding light on the fact that ours is a nation managed largely by “bereaved children” who often lack the emotional capacity and empathy to do their jobs properly.
Not long ago (12 June) George Monbiot suggested that anyone who wants to stand in a national election should receive a course of psychotherapy. Mr Johnson’s inadequate response to human suffering certainly shows his need of such treatment. Helen Channer AupperleePilsdon, Dorset Continue reading...