Good Morning Britain host Adil Ray discussed a “serious situation” on Friday
A Good Morning Britain star warned “they could die” in a heartbreaking news update on Friday (December 19).
During the latest episode of the popular ITV breakfast show, presenters Adil Ray and Charlotte Hawkins brought viewers up to speed with breaking news from Britain and beyond.
They were accompanied in the studio by Sean Fletcher, who covered additional news items, whilst Laura Tobin delivered regular weather forecasts live from Nottingham.
Later in the programme, Adil and Charlotte examined the day’s pressing issues alongside regular panellists Salma Shah and Caroline Flint.
The discussion soon turned to the continuing Middle East conflict, with Adil identifying the eight Palestine Action campaigners who have been engaged in an indefinite hunger strike at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, reports Wales Online.
The protest action commenced on November 2 and has been characterised as “the biggest coordinated prison hunger strike” in nearly four decades in Britain, according to campaign organisation Prisoners for Palestine, speaking at a press briefing on Thursday (December 18).
Over 800 medical professionals, legal specialists, and relatives have written to Justice Secretary David Lammy, calling on him to meet with their legal representatives to address the continuing demonstration.
“They have been arrested and charged because they were part of the Palestinian protests. Some of them have been on hunger strike for 47 days, it’s 48 now actually,” Adil stated.
“I’m too young to remember, but in 1981, IRA prisoners went on hunger strike. Some of them died within 46 days. It’s a serious situation.
“Should we be doing more in this case, Salma? Should the government be intervening? They’re saying the prisons have a system to deal with this. These could die. These prisoners are on remand, but they could die in prison.”
Salma responded: “It’s a difficult situation because nobody wants them to die, and they have decided to take a very drastic measure by going on a hunger strike.
“As I understand it, of the eight, there were six that were in critical condition; two of them have now stopped their hunger strike because they were in such a bad way.
“What we need to do is ensure that the medical support team that is in prison is allowed to try and convince them that this is not the right action going forward, because losing lives is not going to fundamentally change what they want to change.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice previously stated: “The Deputy Prime Minister has responded to and will continue to respond to correspondence on this issue, and is being kept informed of the situation. We continually assess prisoners’ wellbeing and will always take the appropriate action, including taking prisoners to hospital if they are assessed as needing treatment by a medical professional.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am