Westminster is buzzing with a story that feels plucked from a discarded episode of 'Yes, Minister.' A 12-year-old boy, name redacted for legal reasons, has been hailed as a hero after a bizarre incident in Addis Ababa. The boy attempted to check a sick chicken into a local hospital. The audacity. The sheer cheek.
Whitehall sources tell me the boy approached the reception desk with the chicken under his arm. He demanded it be treated. The receptionist, a veteran of far stranger requests, called security. But here's the kicker: the boy refused to back down. He cited the chicken's symptoms. He insisted on a doctor.
The hospital, after some deliberation, actually treated the bird. Chicken is now recovering. The boy is being called a 'local hero' by the Ethiopian press. But the civil service here is watching. One permanent secretary muttered to me: 'If this catches on, we'll have every farmer in the country trying to claim NHS resources for livestock.'
Downing Street has not commented. But I have it on good authority that this will be raised at the next Cabinet Office meeting. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is already drafting guidance. The Treasury is worried about the fiscal implications.
This is the kind of story that the British public loves. A boy, a chicken, a hospital. It speaks to something primal. Our capacity for empathy, even for poultry. But it also speaks to something else. The sheer bureaucracy of it all.
I can already see the memes. The chicken, discharged with a clean bill of health. The boy, smiling. The hospital staff, relieved. But in the backrooms of Whitehall, the real battle is just beginning. Who foots the bill? Is this a precedent? The questions keep coming.
The boy's mother, a nurse at the same hospital, said she was 'proud' but also 'mortified.' The boy himself said he 'just wanted to help.' Classic heroism. Uncomplicated. Pure.
But in the world of politics, nothing is pure. This story will be weaponised. The left will say it shows the NHS's capacity for care. The right will say it's an absurd waste of resources. The boy will become a symbol. The chicken, a cipher.
Watch this space. The real news is yet to break.
