Boris Johnson’s intensive care nurse quits NHS over treatment of health workers - NationalWorld digital front page

The intensive care nurse who cared for Boris Johnson when he was struck down by Covid last year quit the NHS and criticised the government’s handling of the pandemic.

First reported in the Guardian, Jenny McGee who was an intensive care nurse at St Thomas’ hospital, described the first moment she encountered Boris Johnson.

She said: “All around him there was lots and lots of sick patients, some of whom were dying. I remember seeing him and thinking he looked very, very unwell. He was a different colour really.”

But, McGee, originally from New Zealand, went on to criticise the government’s Covid-19 response.

She said: “Lots of nurses felt that the government hadn’t led very effectively – the indecisiveness, so many mixed messages. It was just very upsetting.”

McGee also announced her resignation this morning via Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust.

She wrote: “After the toughest year of my nursing career, I’m taking a step back from the NHS but hope to return in the future. I’m excited to start a nursing contract in the Caribbean, before a holiday back home in New Zealand later in the year.”

New ‘youth-led’ political party to stand local candidate in upcoming by-election

A new ‘youth-led’ political party has announced it will stand a candidate in the upcoming Chesham and Amersham by-election.

The Breakthrough party was founded by 30-year-old Alex Mays in Manchester earlier this year, and NationalWorld can reveal that it is already in talks with other new parties about an electoral coalition which could pose problems for Labour.

The party’s candidate in Chesham and Amersham, Carla Gregory, 31, told NationalWorld she will run for parliament because she wants “the best possible future” for her two children, and her area.

She said: “This is my hometown and where I am raising my children so I want the best possible future for them and Chesham & Amersham.

“For far too long the gap between the rich and the poor has been widening here and I want to be the voice of the unheard residents.

She added: “Standing up for people who are marginalised in society is very important to me and the Breakthrough party does just this, as well as not being afraid to say it how it really is and always tackling the toughest issues facing our society.”

Are Scots more tolerant of immigration because they’ve “faced injustice themselves”?

After hundreds of demonstrators were able to prevent a dawn immigration raid carried out by the UK Home Office in the southside of Glasgow last week, our reporter Jenna MacFarlane has been taking a closer look at the people of Scotland’s attitudes towards immigration, which could be informed by “having faced injustice themselves,” according to one expert.

MacFarlane notes that, “immigration enforcement is a power reserved to Westminster, and the majority of Scots (63%) believe that Holyrood should be able to set its own immigration policy”.

She writes: “People north of the border are generally more positive towards immigration than those in the rest of the country, according to recent research.

“However, this isn’t to say that there is no negative feeling towards immigration in Scotland’s largest city, as three Glasgow constituencies - North East, East and South West - were also ranked among the least supportive of immigration in the country.”