Mike Graham filmed making ‘utterly hideous’ jokes about Andy Burnham’s dad’s death

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Journalist Mike Graham has been called out for ‘beyond abhorrent’ comments about Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s late father. The Labour leader’s dad, Roy, died from Alzheimer’s disease last month, with the PM cancelling all engagements for two days. Burnham spoke openly about Roy’s condition, including how his father, who was living in a care home, was unaware that his son had been appointed to Number 10. Roy, in his mid-80s, was also a key motivator for Burnham politically, driving his aim to reform the social care system. The Burnham family held his funeral on Friday, the same day Graham sparked outrage with so-called jokes about Roy’s illness. Speaking on a panel at an event, with footage later posted on Graham’s YouTube channel, the author, 66, began by quoting a tweet from Burnham, reading, ‘I will build the Britain my dad wanted to see.’ Andy Burnham’s father, Roy, died from Alzheimer’s disease last month (Picture: Joel Goodman/LNP) Shrugging and pulling a confused face, he then said: ‘His dad doesn’t even know who he is!’ ‘He died. He didn’t even recognise his own son,’ Graham said. ‘So what f***ing Britain did he want? ‘Why would you ask a bloke with Alzheimer’s, “What sort of Britain do you want?”‘ Acting confused and disoriented, he mocked Roy’s response as being along the lines of, ‘Uh, I don’t know!’ Graham proceeded to read out his original reply to Burnham’s tweet, which was, ‘Who f***ing cares what his dad wanted?’ Footage from the event seems to have been removed, although it soon resurfaced on social media, where horrified users blasted Graham’s ‘hideous’ remarks. Mike Graham has been branded ‘vile’ for his ‘hideous’ jokes about dementia (Picture: PA) @LizWebsterSBF on X called the quips ‘truly vile’ and ‘just the lowest of the low’, while @Roni56248402 was equally appalled by the reaction in the room at the time. ‘There was a time when such vile, tasteless remarks would have been met with stunned silence from the audience, not applauded and encouraged,’ they raged, claiming that they ‘have no respect for the dead’. @sfh300 branded Graham’s behaviour ‘disgusting’, and @JoeKilshaw declared that he should be ‘nowhere near any TV or radio station going forward’. ‘Having watched my father suffer for many years with dementia, this actually upset me. It doesn’t just show a lack of empathy but also basic human decency. And the others laughing are just as bad’, @Roxybuchanno wrote. @OliverKamm added: ‘My mother, an eminent literary figure, had no idea who I was in the last year of her life. It was more distressing than her death. That’s about as low as it gets’. @janetprice612 said they wouldn’t wish the ‘horrendous disease’ on ‘anyone’, having watched their mother suffer, while @PippyBing said turning the illness into a ‘cheap punchline’ is ‘repulsive’. In 2022, he criticised someone else who mocked dementia, revealing his own father had it (Picture: X) The viral clip was also posted by Dan Hodges, a commentator for the Mail on Sunday, whom he publicly clashed with several times on TalkTV and who was even mentioned on the panel by Graham as someone who’s ‘gone mad’. Hodges used adjectives such as ‘staggering’ to describe the footage, saying he was ‘genuinely shocked’. He later added, ‘One other thing. My understanding is this was broadcast on the day Andy Burnham attended his father’s funeral’, to which Graham hit back, ‘DAN DAN DAN DAN DAN DAN. Stop clutching your f***ing pearls mate. When did you start working as the comedy police exactly?’ Many other X users also referenced a tweet Graham wrote in 2022 in response to someone who also mocked dementia. In it, he shared that his own dad suffered from it before his death. ‘Here’s another leftie mocking dementia,’ he replied. ‘They’re just such hypocrites aren’t they? Mock away sweetie. You’ll never win by being nasty. ‘My father had dementia. Before he died. He fought for this country. Perhaps you’d like to insult him too.’ Graham was dismissed from TalkTV in November 2025 (Picture: TalkTV) Stunned by the irony of the situation, @ChrisKeybats said: ‘Funny that when it was close to home for you you didn’t find it funny.’ Graham, former editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror and deputy editor of the Daily Express, has long been a controversial figure in the media. In July 2022, he falsely claimed that mental health charity Mind had been funding legal fees of individuals seeking asylum in the UK. TalkTV was forced to issue an apology. The channel, for which Graham used to present the breakfast show, also had to pay ‘substantial damages’ to the charity Migrants Organise a year later, when Graham claimed on his show that they were ‘human traffickers’. And in October last year, Graham was suspended from his TalkRadio show Morning Glory after a racist post was shared on his Facebook page. He denied writing it, claiming he’d been hacked, and an internal investigation was launched. In November 2025, Graham was dismissed from TalkTV amid a restructure, with News UK saying he ‘reneged on several opportunities to cooperate with the company investigation’, despite initially vowing to comply with proceedings. Graham went on to start an independent YouTube show. 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