Boris Johnson heckled by pensioner on Salisbury visit: ‘Shame on you, absolute shame!’

PM told he is ‘ruining the country’

Jon Sharman,Andrew Woodcock
Tuesday 03 December 2019 17:25 GMT
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Boris Johnson heckled with cries of 'Shame!' in Salisbury

Boris Johnson has been heckled during his visit to a Christmas market in Wiltshire.

The prime minister’s walkabout in Salisbury was greeted with cries of “Shame!” amid the messages of support he received.

Joyce Smale, 67, from Salisbury, yelled: “Shame on you, absolute shame! Ruining the country!”

Wearing a badge of the anti-Brexit Sodem group, Ms Smale told The Independent she was a “convinced Remainer” who was also concerned about the state of the NHS under Conservative leadership.

While Mr Johnson received a generally warm reception as he toured the market - with cheers and shouts of “get Brexit done” from some passers-by – he was also confronted on transport issues.

Pensioner Stephen Roberts confronted the PM about South West Trains rail strikes which are affecting services to the city in the weeks before Christmas due to a dispute about the removal of guards.

“What are you going to do about this train strike?” Mr Roberts asked Mr Johnson. “People want to go on the train, but you are going to get perverts and robbers and who knows what else if you don’t have a guard on the train. They will run amok.”

Mr Johnson’s visit to Salisbury on Tuesday came as his foreign secretary was embroiled in a row about the NHS.

Dominic Raab admitted the US would be free to raise prices for drugs bought by the health service after Brexit.

In a press conference, Donald Trump insisted Washington would not want to include the NHS in any post-Brexit trade deal – despite having said previously that it would be “on the table”.

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