Good Morning Britain viewers were left divided this morning after Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alistair Campbell appeared on the show and had some strong views on the Nightingale hospitals.
The former journalist worked as Downing Street Press Secretary for the Labour Prime Minister from 1997–2000.
Campbell, 63, gave his take on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the nation – admitting he fears the heavily praised emergency Nightingale hospitals built to cope with the first wave of Covid were an elaborate PR stunt.
Speaking to host Charlotte Hawkins, Campbell said: “I understand why the very word lockdown fills the country with dread but actually most of us are living with that now.
“I fear the whole Covid thing is that the government isn’t straight with the people about the reality of what is really going.
Alistair Campbell said he fears the Nightingale Hospitals were a PR stunt (Image: ITV)
“They present what they want it to be, not what is really going on.”
He added: “You do wonder if the whole Nightingale hospitals which were made from nothing that that was just a gigantic PR operation which they couldn’t take through as they last the resources to man it.
“No nurses and doctors to run the place.”
Adding he fears for the mental health of the NHS workers and general population alike, Campbell said: “The pressures doctors and nurses are under, they are frazzled.
“I think the mental health consequences of the pandemic are so great and I don’t believe the government have a plan for that either.
“These are all very very difficult trade offs that is why I wish the government would be much more honest about the nature of the tradeoffs.
“We worry about students the whole time. Think of what it is like, going to university but then they can’t go out.
“I know the government age a lot on their plate but I don’t see the mental health of the nation even on the agenda.”
The latest Covid figures state another 41,385 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded.
As Campbell gave his take on the government’s handling, GMB viewers were quick to take to Twitter to hit out.
Earlier this year the Nightingale Hospital’s were built to battle the first wave of Covid 19 (Image: Getty Images)
One viewer moaned: “I’m so happy to have a spiked columnist and ex spin doctor on TV to give us the low down on hospitals, rather than say……medical doctors perhaps.”
Another added: “#GMB is he for real, the government he represented said we could be under attack in 45 minutes?”
A third continued: “That muppet Campbell is on #GMB.”
However, others were less scathing.
One Good Morning Britain viewer teased: “Love Campbell’s subdued lighting. Very romantic.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
