Dame Barbara Windsor asks Boris Johnson: Can I have a kiss?
Dame Barbara Windsor asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a kiss during a meeting to discuss dementia.
The Carry On and EastEnders actress was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014, and today delivered a letter to Downing Street pleading for better care for fellow sufferers.
Dame Barbara attended Number 10 with her husband Scott Mitchell, where she was warmly received by an affectionate Prime Minister.
Mr Johnson held the ailing actress’ hand as they sat in the garden, discussing the limitations of dementia care in the UK.
At the end of their afternoon chat, Dame Barbara turned to the Conservative leader and asked: “Can I have a kiss?”
The Prime Minster responded “Of course you can,” and pecked the cheeks of the star, famed for portraying Peggy Mitchell.
Dame Barbara delivered a letter signed by 100,000 people calling for better care for dementia sufferers.
Mr Johnson assured the actress: “We’ll do this. It’s very hard. We have to sort it out.
“I’m going to do my best for you. It’s a big old job.”
Mr Johnson reminisced with Dame Barbara about his time as Mayor Of London.
When the actress claimed that “they all loved you”, the politician joked that “it was variable”.
The Prime Minister grew concerned at one point during the meeting, when he asked the actress, who was wrapped in a shawl: “Are you cold? What shall we do?”
Dame Barbara was joined by representatives from the Alzheimer’s Society, who put the case to Mr Johnson for more funding in dementia care.
The letter taken to Number 10 stated: “Our experience is of a care system that too often doesn’t care – one that is completely inadequate, unfair, unsustainable and in dire need of more money.
“Across the country dementia care is difficult, an in some places even impossible, to access.”
The Prime Minister nodded in agreement with the Alzheimer’s Society representatives regarding issues facing care, and gave Dame Barbara assurances he would look into the issue.
The actress was all smiles as she was aided up Downing Street before the meeting, greeting the on-duty police officer and laughing as she knocked on the door of Number 10.
