It was a terrible idea from the get-go.

What did Jeremy Hunt think he would achieve by appearing on a ‘Facebook Live’ session in which he would discuss his stewardship of the National Health Service with members of the public?

Ralf Little – with whom Mr Hunt has been enduring an embarrassingly public spat over the facts behind the statistics the Health Secretary likes to quote – set the tone with his response to the announcement that the event was taking place:

https://twitter.com/RalfLittle/status/941751107549843456

It just got worse from there.

https://twitter.com/Isobel_waby/status/941957424793169920

Among the comments featured in the images above are:

“Liar you wrote a book on privatising the NHS.”

“I am so worried about the NHS, it is struggling, you and the government are doing nothing to help it.”

“After everything that’s happening in OUR NHS, I don’t believe a word you are saying or have ever said.”

“Nobody believes a word that comes out of your lying mouth.”

“Why are so many of our health and social care services in total chaos. Could it be the billions of pounds that have been spent on monstrous radical reforms that have caused crisis after crisis?”

And here’s one of the reasons people are so angry:

The Independent article reads:

One out of every five NHS trusts has hit maximum capacity at least once already this winter, as seasonal illnesses and cold weather push bed availability in the health service to its limits.

The Independent’s analysis of the first two weeks of winter performance data found 18 per cent of trusts, 25 out of 137, have had one or more days with no spare beds.

In total, trusts have declared 100 per cent bed occupancy 99 times in 14 days.

Informing everything, of course, is the policy of privatisation that informs everything that Mr Hunt has done since he became Health Secretary – epitomised by this image:

The text states: “Within six years, I’ll be working for one of the private healthcare providers that I’m selling your NHS to.

“KERCHING!

“Merry Christmas suckers x”

Still, the event did achieve one thing…

It cemented Jeremy Hunt’s status among the UK’s most loathed politicians.

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