Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reveals Christmas card design
A young boy who has cystic fibrosis has designed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Christmas card, it has been revealed.
Mr Corbyn said he was “honoured” that nine-year-old Luis Walker had created the card, adding that the youngster had “won an important fight for access to the medicine he needs”.
Luis’s hand-drawn design features a decorated Christmas tree with presents underneath as well as a snowman, an angel and Santa on a sleigh.
Inside the card includes a personal message from Luis which reads: “My Christmas wish is for everyone all over the world to get the medicine to make them feel better.”
Mr Corbyn’s printed message adds: “Wishing you a Happy Christmas and a Peaceful 2020.”
It is understood the youngster wrote to Mr Corbyn earlier this year detailing his fight to access the life-changing drug Orkambi.
Mr Corbyn previously attacked the pharmaceutical industry and drug companies for putting “profits for shareholders before people’s lives”, in the case of Luis and others suffering from illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, hepatitis C and breast cancer.
The Labour leader wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Vertex CEO Dr Jeffrey Leiden after meeting Luis calling on them to “right this wrong”.
In October NHS England announced a deal had been reached with pharmaceutical giant Vertex making the drug available to patients.
In a statement, Mr Corbyn said: “I’m honoured that Luis has designed this Christmas card.
“Luis won an important fight for access to the medicine he needs. While we celebrate this, we must recognise that many people continue to suffer from other illnesses and aren’t able to access vital medicines.
“Whatever your faith, and if you have no faith, Christmas is a time to come together with friends and family. But for so many Christmas can be a reminder of what they don’t have. Nobody should be deprived of the medicine they need.
“So this festive season, I wish you all a Happy Christmas. For the merry, not the few.”