A LABOUR MP and qualified doctor has admitted she struggled to get out of bed after seeing Covid-19 patients die in hospital.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, the shadow minister for mental health, reflected upon her experiences while attending hospital wards at London’s Nightingale and St George’s hospitals. They were both overwhelmed with patients during the peak of the pandemic.
Allin-Khan, an A&E doctor, dropped her Labour party deputy leadership campaign to do 12-hour shifts. She has had the experience of providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, Israel, Africa and Asia – but she revealed that the coronavirus pandemic really had a big impact on her.
“There was a week, and I was like, wow, I just feel as though it’s a little harder to get out of bed than normal. And I just feel like I could quite happily stay in the same clothes for a few days, and I don’t feel great,” she said during The Telegraph’s Mad World podcast last week. “I realised that I needed to grieve – a lot of the people that I’d seen die, a lot of the times I’d held it in for the families that I was seeing who looked and sounded like me with parents that looked and sounded like mine.”
The Tooting MP went on to share the harrowing experience medics go through – including delivering the death of a patient to their family members.
“What floored me immeasurably in this crisis was as a doctor and as a nurse, compassion is natural to you,” she said. “It’s an innate thing giving someone a hug, putting a hand on their arm. All of these things are just so natural when people are grieving. But instead, you are talking to people through full PPE, asking them to stand two metres away from you or delivering the very worst of news over the phone to them.
“Or if they are able to come to the hospital to say goodbye as their loved-one is dying, five family members show up and then you have to, in your full PPE, say, I’m sorry, only one of you can come in.”
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)