A MOTHER who was prevented from seeing her dying son in his final weeks in hospital has said she felt dismissed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who referred to the “Westminster bubble” in his response to a question about the family’s situation.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer raised the case of 27-year-old Ollie Bibby, who died of leukaemia on May 5, the day before CCTV footage captured then-health secretary Matt Hancock breaching social distancing rules in an embrace with aide Gina Coladangelo.
The Prime Minister said in his response: “We all share the grief and the pain of Ollie and his family and millions of people up and down the country who have endured the privations that this country has been through in order to get the coronavirus pandemic under control and that is why we had a change of health secretary the day after the story appeared.
“And that is why actually what we are doing as a government, instead of focusing on stuff going on within the Westminster bubble, we are focusing on rolling out vaccines at a rate that will make sure that people like Ollie and his family do not have to suffer in the future.”
Mr Bibby’s mother Penny Bibby, of South Benfleet in Essex, told the BBC that Johnson’s response made her feel “not important”.
“Boris Johnson just dismissed the question, he avoided answering it entirely, which made us feel like we’re not important,” she told the broadcaster.
“He keeps going on about vaccinations, but there are no guarantees that families can be together on their death bed, even if everyone is vaccinated.
“There are no signs that anything is going to change.”
She added: “I have lost confidence in this government now.
“There needs to be a plan, this can’t go on.
“How many more families need to be kept apart while loved ones are dying?”
Johnson’s comments drew criticism on social media.
READ MORE: PMQs: Boris Johnson condemned for 'ghastly' response to grieving family's anger
The Prime Minister’s press secretary denied that Johnson had referred to the Bibby family’s ordeal as a “Westminster bubble” issue.
She told reporters: “I think the Prime Minister answered the substantive point regarding Ollie and his family, he said that we all share the grief and pain of those who’ve lost loved ones and of course his thoughts are with them.
“He absolutely was not referring to this issue.
“The point he was making was that Starmer was focusing on the former health secretary when he left government five days ago and there are obviously significant challenges facing the country around jobs, education, Covid recovery.”
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