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Protesters shouted "shame on you!" tonight as Boris Johnson was forced to send his Health Secretary to an NHS A&E where a four-year-old boy was found sleeping on the floor.

Matt Hancock faced furious heckles from a handful of Labour activists as he tried to defuse an explosive row at Leeds General Infirmary.

One protester shouted: "Ten years of underfunding the system! We do not want you in this city. We do not want you in this country!"

Initial reports, including by the BBC's political editor, suggested one activist punched an aide to Mr Hancock. One claim, not from the BBC, suggested someone had been arrested.

Yet the same BBC political editor later produced video footage showing the aide walked into a protester's arm as he pointed in what appeared to be an accident.

A West Yorkshire Police statement said: "We are aware of information circulating on social media in relation to an alleged incident involving election campaigners at Leeds General Infirmary this afternoon.

(Image: @BeyondThePast1)

"We are currently unaware of any reports to West Yorkshire Police of this nature but are seeking to verify."

Labour tonight blamed the inaccurate reporting on briefings from Tory sources.

A Labour spokeswoman declared: “The Tories are so desperate to distract from a four year old boy sleeping on a hospital floor because of their cuts to our NHS that they have resorted to bare faced lying.

“This is a new low and the Conservative Party has serious questions to answer.”

The hastily-arranged visit came after we revealed Jack Williment-Barr - who had suspected pneumonia - was forced to lie on a pile of coats as he tried to sleep on the floor.

The photo prompted outrage with Jeremy Corbyn branding it a "disgrace" and Mr Hancock admitting: "It's not good enough and I've apologised".

But Mr Johnson stoked the furore as the took the phone of a journalist trying to show him the photo of little Jack - and put it in his pocket during a live interview.

This afternoon Mr Hancock spent an hour in the hospital meeting staff and managers in a visit arranged by his own office.

A hospital spokesman said it was to "talk about the pressures on children's A&E and also to hear about our plans for expansion of the children's assessment and treatment unit."

Mr Hancock was filmed by one activist leaving the hospital to shouts of "shame on you Matt Hancock" and "on the floor! Sleeping on the floor in a hospital!"

A video showed him then scurrying into a silver Vauxhall Corsa, appearing to leave one aide behind.

What happened next was initially unclear. The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg tweeted unconfirmed reports that "Labour activists scrambled to go + protest, and it turned nasty when they arrived - one of them punched Hancock's adviser." But fellow BBC reporter Nick Eardley, who was at the hospital, said he did not witness any violence and the tweet was later deleted.

(Image: @BeyondThePast1)

And video footage later emerged of the aide walking, apparently by accident, into a protester's arm as he pointed at the retreating car.

The BBC also reported Tory sources were "suggesting Labour campaigners offered to pay cabs for activists to go and heckle Hancock." But a Labour source dismissed this as untrue.

Mr Hancock was due to be briefed on four-year-old Jack's case and meet the chief executive during the visit.

Asked what he would say to Jack's family, Mr Hancock told reporters: "It's not good enough and I've apologised.

"I think the trust have handled it very well. The staff here have been brilliant.

"Jack's family have been at pains to point out that the staff have been absolutely superb."

(Image: @BeyondThePast1)

Asked why he made the visit to the hospital on Monday when it was not on his schedule for the day, Mr Hancock said: "I've come because ... I wanted to get reassurance from the trust that they're doing everything they can.

"I've been very impressed with the response of the trust."

The Mirror revealed the four-year-old boy's plight today.

Sarah Williment covered her son Jack with coats to keep him warm as he waited for a bed at Leeds General Infirmary, where she had taken him on Tuesday fearing he had pneumonia.

He was eventually moved to a ward, where he waited for five hours on a trolley before a bed was found at 3am, Ms Williment told the Mirror.

Jack was diagnosed with flu and tonsillitis and was allowed to be taken home at lunchtime.

It comes as the stretched NHS takes centre-stage as a key election issue.

Asked about the incident during an interview on LBC this morning, the Prime Minister said : "Of course I sympathise very much and I apologise to everybody who has a bad experience.

"By and large I think the NHS do an amazing job and I think that they deserve all praise for the service they provide - but they do need investment and that's why we're doing it now.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "I don't know whether many of you saw that picture of a child this morning being treated for pneumonia on the floor."That's how bad it's got after 10 years of austerity. We need to tackle that emergency.

"It's happening in our hospitals, our GP surgeries, our clinics right the way across the country."