Ben Fogle condemns The Guardian over reference to David Cameron’s ‘privileged pain’ after son’s death
'I am not a Tory and I am certainly no apologist for David Cameron,' explorer says
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Your support makes all the difference.Ben Fogle has condemned The Guardian over an editorial claiming David Cameron only experienced “privileged pain” after his son’s death.
Extracts of the former prime minister’s memoirs were published on Sunday in which he praised the NHS care his disabled son Ivan received before his death at the age of six in 2009.
But The Guardian later published a leader column claiming that “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 damage that his policies have done”.
It also added: “Mr Cameron has known pain and failure in his life but it has always been limited failure and privileged pain.”
The newspaper has faced a backlash over the comments, including from adventurer Mr Fogle, who had a stillborn son, William, with wife Marina in 2014.
Posting an open letter to The Guardian entitled “Pain” on his Instagram account, the broadcaster branded the editorial as “grotesque”.
He said: “I am not a Tory and I am certainly no apologist for David Cameron but to describe the loss of his son Ivan as ‘privileged pain’ is grotesque.
“Deeply offensive to the many thousands of us who have lost children of our own.
“Your editorial insinuates that I too only experienced ‘privileged pain’.”
Mr Fogle, who has a 10-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter with his wife, said the editorial “has relapsed my grief like PTSD”.
He added: “There is no privilege in losing a child. There is no privilege in being called in the middle of the night, on the other side of the world, to tell you your son has died and your wife may die too.
“There is no privilege in being turned away from a Ryanair flight because I didn’t have time to print out a boarding pass and lost my wallet in my haste to get to the hospital.
“There is no privilege in holding your dead son in your arms and having a photo with him.”
Chancellor Sajid Javid tweeted a screenshot of the comments, adding: “Shameful thing to read, @guardian. Never has an editorial so lacked in empathy, while so righteously criticising others for lacking it.”
MP Zac Goldsmith said: “These aren’t just the ugly thoughts of a maverick columnist.
“These are the words of the actual Guardian editorial. It is their corporate view. It is stomach churningly revolting.”
Comedian Jenny Eclair added: “I am furious with David Cameron but to question his grief privilege as the Guardian is doing is vile beyond vile – his 6 year old son died.”
The Guardian later apologised and removed the comments from the editorial on its website, stating: “The original version of this editorial posted online fell far short of our standards.
“It has now been amended, and we apologise completely.”
A spokesperson for The Guardian said the newspaper had “nothing further to add” when approached by The Independent.
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