Right wing national newspapers including The Telegraph, The Sun and The Mail used their Sunday editions to take a swipe at Boris Johnson’s neighbours after they called the police to his girlfriend’s flat when they heard shouting, screaming and things getting smashed.
Dubbing them a “Remain couple”, “left-wing” and “neighbours from hell” the publications rounded on neighbours of Carrie Symonds who had knocked on the door to check on the welfare of Johnson’s girlfriend before alerting the police.
Tom Penn told the Guardian that the argument had been “loud enough and angry enough that I felt frightened and concerned for the welfare of those involved”, saying he contacted the paper after the police found no offence had occurred because he felt it was of important public interest.
But he said the response from the right wing media has left them feeling upset, saying:
“The unpleasant things being said about myself and my partner, and some quite frankly bizarre and fictitious allegations, have been upsetting for not only us, but also for family, friends and fellow Camberwell neighbours, who are currently being harangued by the media.”
#Borisgate | “Ms Leigh was described by one interviewer as an ‘American Leftist Buddhist Jewish playwright’.”
— okeh (@fotopak) June 22, 2019
Remainer couple who called police on Boris Johnson are a millionaire’s daughter and her playwright partner: @DailyMailUK https://t.co/1aoZYoHp2U
The Telegraph splashed “left-wing neighbours admit taping Boris row” on the front page of its Sunday edition, with subsequent investigations of the couple’s social media history revealing some minor anti-Boris incidents.
The Mail pointed to their Remain voting tendencies as reasons for recording the heated debate, while the Sun called it a “stitch up by leftie, anti-Brexit neighbour”.
The Sun, Mail on Sunday, and the Telegraph all going on the attack against the neighbours who called the police for a welfare check pic.twitter.com/Aqru0V7wAd
— Jon Stone (@joncstone) June 22, 2019
Elsewhere most people have come out in support of the couple submitting a welfare check, with several harrowing stories emerging of cases where neighbours didn’t alert the police.
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