LBC's James O'Brien demolishes Boris Johnson's argument about junior doctors

In Boris Johnson's Telegraphcolumn on Monday, he argued that junior doctors were striking over proposals that would improve their working conditions for political reasons.

After a three paragraph introductory tale of his otitis (an ear condition) as a child, he argued that the government was aiming to improve the NHS by introducing a seven day service and that those who opposed the move were Corbynites.

Johnson then argued in his column (for which he is thought to be paid around £275,000 a year):

It is surely not irrelevant that the doctors’ leadership – the BMA council – would appear to be heavily infiltrated by people who are not just Labour voters but who regard Jeremy Corbyn as the messiah. One BMA council member, Jacky Davis, tweeted “Now we can all vote Labour again”, when the bearded one was elected.

Johnson then cited another council members' stated wish to "beat the Tories" and a member of the BMA junior doctors’ committee who said a victory for the junior doctors would signify the first real crack in the entire edifice of austerity in the UK”.

Johnson then concluded:

The BMA leadership is in the grip of advanced Corbynitis.

LBC presenter James O'Brien took issue with this column, arguing that the junior doctors had more of a mandate for their strike than Johnson had ever gained for office:

The turnout and the votes for the junior doctor's strike is about as unanimous as you will find outside of North Korea. That is absolute stone cold fact.

He's not wrong that they have more of a mandate than Johnson.

In November, in a ballot of more than 37,000 junior doctors in England, 98 per cent of those who voted, voted in favour of full strike action (74.5 per cent of the total ballot). This also translates to roughly 47.6 per cent of all junior doctors.

Mr Johnson may not like the comparison to his mandate as MP for Uxbridge...

...or that of his mandate as Mayor of London.

If that's not enough for you and you want the general public's say on it, 66 per cent of those asked in a representative Ipsos-MORI survey published yesterday said they supported the strikes.

O'Brien continued:

I presume, that like firefighters and like teachers, doctors take industrial action with a very, very heavy heart. I presume, that if doctors really liked going on strike they'd be doing it all the time.

What's the proof that all these doctors are communists in disguise? Well apparently one BMA council member tweeted "now we can all vote Labour again" when Jeremy Corbyn was elected. Ok.

To hear the rest of James O'Brien's rant, listen to the clip, below: