The paper has apologised for saying David Cameron had only felt “privileged pain” over the death of his son.
The Guardian has apologised for an editorial about David Cameron in which comments were made about the death of his son.
Following the release of his memoirs, The Guardian published an editorial, included in which were comments made about the former Prime Minsiter’s praise for the NHS for the care his son received before he died.
Cameron’s son Ivan was born with a neurological disorder called Ohtahara syndrome, and he died in 2009 at the age of six.
The editorial read: “Mr Cameron has known pain and failure in his life but it has always been limited failure and privileged pain.”
In relation to his praise of the NHS for the treatment of his son, the editorial continued: “Had he been forced to wrestle with the understaffed and overmanaged hospitals of much of England, or had he been trying to get the system to look after a dying parent rather than a dying child, he might have understood a little of the damages that his policies have done.”
MP Sajid Javid was amongst those to criticise the piece, describing it as “shameful”.
Shameful thing to read, @guardian. Never has an editorial so lacked in empathy, while so righteously criticising others for lacking it. https://t.co/FDJV5uxEKS
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) September 15, 2019
The comments were quickly deleted and changed within two hours of the editorial being published.
A note at the bottom of the editorial, an amended version of which can be read here, reads: “This editorial was amended on 15 September 2019. The original version of this editorial posted online fell far short of our standards. It has now been amended, and we apologise completely.”
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