While the country heaved a sigh of relief as the Prime Minister emerged from intensive care at St Thomas', one person was doubtless less pleased, union chief Steve Hedley.

Hedley, the assistant chief of rail union RMT, has said he would 'throw a party' if Boris Johnson died of the coronavirus.

He went on to say he hoped the entire Cabinet contracted the disease.

In a series of Facebook posts made earlier in the week before the Prime Minister went into intensive care, the union boss said: “I’ll cry no crocodile tears for people who’ve killed the working class and vulnerable for years and have mishandled this crisis so badly that NHS staff are dying because they have inadequate protective equipment and patients dying because there are not enough ventilators.”

Last night, RMT president Michelle Rogers and general secretary Mike Cash released a joint statement about Hedley's comment, saying: "Steve Hedley’s comments do not represent the views of this trade union and are wholly unacceptable," reported The Sun.

Hedley later commented on social media: "I stand by every word."