Dad who slammed Boris Johnson defends BBC's Laura Kuenssberg for 'doing her job'

A dad who confronted Boris Johnson on a hospital ward over his seven-day-old daughter's treatment has said Laura Kuenssberg was just "doing her job".

Omar Salem said it was not a "huge scoop" for the BBC political editor to point out he was also a Labour activist, but said her work was "a vital part of democracy".

Mr Salem spoke out after a social media campaign erupted to sack the BBC journalist for pointing out his links to Labour, as part of her wider coverage of his run-in with the Prime Minister.

Elsewhere, Ms Kuenssberg had also pointed out the encounter was "very very awkward for the PM" and the dad had "said repeatedly the NHS has been destroyed".

Last night the BBC weighed in behind Ms Kuenssberg, saying it was "absurd" to suggest malicious intent behind her pointing out a factual statement that had been made prominently by Mr Salem himself.

The BBC said Mr Salem "had written himself" about his encounter with the PM on Twitter , where he "describes himself as a Labour activist" in his bio.

And today the dad himself tweeted: "Laura Kuenssberg is doing her job without fear or favour, which is a vital part of democracy.

"I don’t think 'Labour activist cares about NHS' is a huge scoop though."

Mr Salem had already said himself that his political views were relevant, tweeting: "My Labour values are WHY I back proper support for the NHS. I am not ashamed of them."

He added today: "Thank you to everyone who has sent kind messages about our daughter. It is much appreciated. Will be logging off for a while again now."

Mr Salem's concerns were proven accurate when Whipps Cross Hospital, where his baby daughter waited two hours for treatment, admitted there had been a temporary shortage of staff caused by "an unexpected emergency in one part of the hospital".

The BBC weighed in behind Ms Kuenssberg, saying it was "absurd" to suggest malicious intent (Rex Features)

And Boris Johnson last night responded by saying he was glad Mr Salem raised concerns - and it didn't matter whether they agreed politically.

The Prime Minister tweeted: “I’ve been PM for 57 days, part of my job is to talk to people on the ground and listen to what they tell me about the big problems.

“It doesn’t matter if they agree with me. 

“I’m glad this gentleman told me his problems. This isn’t an embarrassment this is part of my job."

Mr Johnson was confronted at the north London hospital yesterday by Mr Salem who told him the NHS is being "destroyed" and said: "My daughter nearly died yesterday".

Mr Johnson was confronted at the north London hospital yesterday by Mr Salem (WPA Pool)

Confronting flustered Mr Johnson, Mr Salem said there had been "years and years and years of the NHS being destroyed", adding: "That’s just not acceptable. This ward is not safe for children. There was one registrar covering the entirety of this ward and the neonatal unit.

“That is just not acceptable, is it?

“Would you like that for your own children?”

Mr Johnson also bizarrely denied it was a "press opportunity", saying "there's no press here" - while gesturing at a press pool with still cameras and a journalist.