The scandal of puberty blockers & Cameron's diplomacy flop - The Week in 60 Minutes | SpectatorTV

Is David Cameron's Washington trip really helping Ukraine's cause? How could the NHS allow the use of controversial puberty blockers for so long? And is it past time to legalise assisted dying in the UK?
James Heale, The Spectator's political correspondent, hosts this week's show. Freddy Gray joins to explain how Americans view David Cameron's style of diplomacy; journalist Hannah Barnes explains how the NHS allowed the use of controversial puberty blockers for so long; Owen Matthews and Dmitri Alperovitch analyse whether more American funding for Ukraine's war effort can be unblocked; Danny Kruger, the Conservative MP for Devizes, debates assisted dying with Rebecca Wilcox, daughter of Dame Esther Rantzen; and Rachel Johnson explains why she'd never join a women-only club.
00:11 Welcome from James Heale
01:15 Has America cooled on supporting Ukraine? With Owen Matthews and Dmitri Alperovitch
17:25 Is David Cameron welcome in Washington? With Freddy Gray
25:36 Should assisted dying be legalised? Danny Kruger MP debates Rebecca Wilcox
41:48 Who's to blame for the NHS's puberty blocker scandal? With Hannah Barnes
55:03 Why are women-only clubs so much worse than the male alternative? With Rachel Johnson
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[@jpsmith9452]

Concerning Tavistock. Sad that no one, either criminally or professionally, will be held to account.

[@dag4390]

Hannah Barnes is a shining example of a proper journalist who is thoroughly on top of her subject. Breathtaking contrast with the frippery expounded by the lightweight Johnson. The scaryness of Ms Barnes subject is truly horrifying.

[@garygallagher3428]

The host on this show is superb. Impartial, measured, informed. If only all journalists could be like this.

[@nessablake2533]

I’m in Canada, the slippery slope is real and appalling. Government is offering death to people who can’t afford the high cost of living that they have created! Evil.

[@mikoburns3938]

I'm in Canada too, they are also offering MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) it to detransitioners who can't live with the decision to mutilate their bodies, as advised by the ideologically captured practitioners who pushed them into gender affirming care.....whatever that is, I call it medical abuse, malpractice, and experimentation.

[@BgAndrew100]

you want to prevent psycological discomfort for some people by forcing million others to endure real phisical pain

[@neanda]

@@BgAndrew100 well said

[@28pbtkh23]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@BgAndrew100 - probably the other way round.

[@hooligan9794]

Jesus, on the women only clubs thing, her objection is that they are an excuse for men to have men only clubs and we just can't have that!! Exemplifying why men might want a men only club in the first place.

[@DrGreenGiant]

Lol and her deconstruction was basically, "I don't like it." Pretty weak argument with no substance.

[@MrCheekymonkey49]

It was the only weak, and tedious, part of the show. Even Rachel Johnson gets to be oppressed.

[@Syngekhoomei]

Having no idea what these clubs are listening to this feels like they had some random lady on to gossip about her neighbors

[@jamesmccallum6770]

Criminal charges for those at GIDS who ignored the data and abused hundreds more children!!

[@sisiphas]

Some countries that have brought in ‘assisted dying’ (like Canada) are walking away from their fixed positions on ‘safety’. In those states of Australia where ‘assisted dying’ exists, good public palliative care is thin on the ground, and VERY expensive in the private system. Assisted dying sadly makes it less likely to get better. Btw, I am an atheist, my views are based on knowing how bureaucracies work

[@christinefiedor3518]

I’m a retired registered nurse living in Australia. In my experience palliative care is of a high standard. It’s a very challenging area to work in and not everybody can do but it’s actually not rocket science. But it does question one’s moral, ethics and legal beliefs

[@christinefiedor3518]

To Ann on. You message seems to have got lost so I could not reply directly to it. I trained in the nhs in paediatrics and the general registers. Now retired though and have no actually practiced for a while. Have generally found the standard of care high out here. But not everybody agrees with assisted dying for moral, ethical and religious reasons . One thing I’ve never understood however is why when a person is dying why Australia doesn’t use diamorphine? The only answer I’ve been given is that Oz follows America!! In my experience diamorphine is by far more effective at pain relief though it’s very addictive and there’s a fine dividing line between therapeutic and overdose. Palliative care should neither hasten or post pone death. As I said before it’s a very challenging area to work in and not everyone is able to do it.

[@tpaine1815]

Anyone who has sat in hospice with their dying family members knows this reality. This guy has NO idea - yes this is an emotional issue, but his "understanding" is utterly lacking. It does not matter if people have their own reasons for assisted dying.

[@user-hd6xv3yd5l]

When my dear mother was dying, my sister and I, and all the doctors and carers involved, knew that the opiates she needed and was prescribed would hasten her death. Her last days were mostly spent sleeping or in happy if delirious memories.

[@MatthewWM8]

I am sorry to hear about your mother. However, what has transpired in Canada with all sorts of people being offered euthanasia is worrying.

[@chrisohanlon69]

are you J-ish too?

[@christinefiedor3518]

Palliative care should neither hasten nor prolong death.but there is a fine dividing line between giving enough and overdose of pain relief. That’s very nature of addiction. Some patients even thrive on it. It’s a really challenging area to work in and medical teams do their best . Honestly is the best policy. It sounds like your mother had the best possible care and you can take comfort from that. When death occurs we can’t do anything for the person, we can only comfort the living.

[@tpaine1815]

In New Zealand, the rate of using puberty blockers are ten times the rate of UK!!!!!!

[@unnamed3932]

The original Dutch study cohort were likely just gay or would grow up to be gay so why were they targeted for those interventions in the first place? Why did kids who didn't fit a stereotype need to be 'fixed' instead of just being supported as they were to grow up and out of their distress which the majority eventually do by going through puberty and into teenhood?

[@catherineallinson8562]

This high quality palliative care which Kruger exhorts - is it up there with getting a GP appointment for a review of pain medication for arthritic knees which refuses anything other than paracetamol because otherwise I would become a junkie? For heavens sake can we get real?

[@gelbsucht947]

Exactly. Where are all these resources that he talks about going to come from to care for a sick, elderly moribund population when the service is already buckling under the pressure of demand?

[@allangriffiths9555]

I'm a member of a men only PROBUS club which exists only because our wives permit it! LOL I think they see the time we spend in club meetings as respite time!

[@TheKiddy3]

What about Canada?

[@mikoburns3938]

On both issues, child abuse in so called gender affirming care and assisted dying....Canada has lost the plot completely.

[@tarakb7606]

Other than the fact she is Boris Johnson's sister, what is Rachel Johnson's selling point?

[@Joe-og6br]

My brother had incredible end of life care. His last 2 weeks he was in absolute agony and was basically starving to death. So even with excellent care you can still have an extremely painful and drawn-out death.

[@hansiesma16]

I’m really sorry for you but I have to respectfully, disagree that he had excellent care. That will not happen in a hospice because they would not be doing their job if they allowed their dying patients to suffer. The whole point of end of life care is that the patient is given as much pain relief as they need in order to not suffer pain.

[@christinefiedor3518]

I’m sorry but unless we have a legal assisted dying policy this will happen. Palliative care neither hastens nor prolongs death. We can’t force a person to eat and to give parental feeding would prolong suffering. . That’s why it’s called comfort care. There has always been a question over pain relief. He most common drug of choice is morphine.But even this has to be increased to have effect, that’s very nature of addiction. There is a very fine diving line between giving enough and overdose. It depresses the breathing and despite this some patients even thrive on it and death takes longer to occur. I’m so sorry that you had to go through this. It’s a dreadful experience for all concerned. 🙁

[@jamesmccallum6770]

Now we need to look at the larger picture and ensure women's spaces, sports and services aren't being invaded by autogynephillic monsters.

[@williamvorkosigan5151]

I want the choice of a painless exit. It is very concerning that Canada has decided to adopt euthanasia as a recommended treatment plan for the old and it's military veterans. When a veteran phones up to complain that they still do not have a serviceable wheel chair, then being asked if they have considered dying as an option, this is entirely unacceptable.

[@PokerDuende]

Grueling. Good topics. Good guests

[@GreenMorningDragonProductions]

I'm surprised there's any kind of bemusement about why Cameron isn't currently cutting it diplomatically. Remember when, as PM he went to the EU with his "list of demands" before the Brexit vote, came back with Zip Jack Diddley and tried to make it look like a win? And then he was all butt hurt, and took his ball home, when 52％ of voters saw right through it and Remain lost. The only reason he managed to hang on to Scotland is because Alistair Darling did most of the talking, and legwork. Makes Chamberlain look like Thatcher.

[@kensachter2869]

Excellent interview with Hannah Barnes. But please, Spectator video editor, do not insert stock footage while she is talking. We are not so stupid or have such short attention spans that we need this diversion. On the contrary, it ruins the flow of her argument and does her, and us, a diservice.

[@ChrisHFal]

There should be a criminal investigation.

[@DiamondLil]

Assisted dying needs to be allowed but under careful oversight. Canada has offered their MAID program to people who simply can't afford the wheelchair they need or some other disability aid. There should be a way to write a law that allows people to avoid those awful last days of pain and helplessness without also pushing more and more people toward suicide in order to save the state money.

[@iconicon5642]

With luck Cameron was lost in a daze and did as little damage as possible to the reputation of the UK.

[@minty258]

I notice how Danny keeps referring killing people in terms of assisted dying but doctors and health care workers make life and death decisions everyday. Is switching off a life support machine killing someone, or deciding as they do regularly in A&E that there's nothing more to be done for somebody badly injured killing someone? He's deliberately using a charged expression no matter which side you're on by referring to a doctor 'killing' someone

[@nnknkable]

Rachel Johnson is awful.

[@ianbooth3164]

Owen's gallery wall is very impressive!

[@francishooper9548]

Australia is attempting to ignore the WPATH FILES and the CASS report as they have done Genevieve Glucks work. In fact the Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne is reducing the age of transition to 3 years.

[@monsieurgrigny]

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- James gabbles & swallows his words and speaks too quickly. Slowing down would help. Is there some problem with that? Is it the audio?? Some sentences I miss entirely. It's quite annoying. Hearing ok. TV ok. Danny Kruger excellent also Hannah Barnes, Rachel Johnson, Freddie and Owen Matthews. Everything apart from the gabbling.

[@llrmiller]

Stats in the US say that 1 in 4 women are pressured into having an abortion by someone close to the . So keep that in mind when deciding about euthanasia laws.

[@perfect12386]

I treasure every single second that I had with my Dad. He fought to the end and kept every promise. He promised my Mam one more New Year, and he kept that promise to her. He died at 20 mins past midnight on New Year's day, almost to the min they met 18 years before. The idea that people want to make it legal to kill people like my Dad makes me so angry.

[@YobboLivesMatter]

"Genital, or breast " MUTILATION.

[@kevingrant7098]

Rachel gets into the club for free. She is definitely a Johnson .Boris never liked paying for anything either.

[@LouiseWilson-pg5gp]

So out if touch with 'average ' woman.

[@cthornback]

did Owen also think the pipeline was blown by Russia?

[@maiq5228]

Why allow Rachel Euphemism to speak without challenge

[@drew1784]

Timestamps please

[@iconicon5642]

No shortage of Dr. Frankenstein's willing to apply untested technology to the vulnerable in pursuit of their own prestige and power.

[@28pbtkh23]

Quite right. Just look at what happened at the Tavistock Clinic, or at the place in Gosport.

[@joouii]

please fix your sound. The mic is really bad,.

[@afifahhamilton8843]

Well said Dany Kruger! Thank you 🙏

[@jimbo-yv5jh]

Mid Staffs, contaminated blood, Liverpool Pathway we've had assisted dying in this country for years. If Esther wants that buy her a one way ticket to Switzerland.

[@GairikGhosh-bx8ks]

This Dimitri bloke looks like Gru from 'Despicable Me'. He of course doesn't add much.

[@olliew424]

The interview with Rachel Johnson was utterly tedious. Could the Spectator please stop funnelling money to the appalling Johnson clan.

[@pauldavis3460]

Somone has to tell the truth to Washington. It’s not about Cameron, it’s about the dire situation in Ukraine. It’s desperate. It’s appalling that, the uk msm seem more interested in ‘Westminster bubble’ type personality issues than, the appalling world situation.

[@cloudycloud824]

Rachel Johnston always manage to say to much but yet make no valid points

[@slaithegreekc]

“Coming over to the states”, I would have thought the level of English grammar at the spectator would be higher. Lord Cameron went to the States, he didn’t come to the states. This KZbin video was recorded in England.

[@Al-ny8dk]

Listening to Johnson harp on absolutely makes me feel there should be spaces for men only. Why do we have to notice her in her heels and gown and listen to her opinions? We need a break from all that. That is why we built the clubs. Its not to chat about women, thats for sure!!!

[@DiamondLil]

I actually agree with you, and I'm an old-school feminist. Women deserve single-sex spaces and so do men! When women began agitating for every single space being thrown open to women, they set the stage for these ridiculous demands being made by male cross dressers.

[@28pbtkh23]

Men have men only clubs to get away from the nattering nature of women. Allow women into clubs and you will destroy the peace of these places.

[@nicky611]

​@@DiamondLilI fully agree as well. Men and boys need their own spaces.

[@jdg9999]

Amazing being against neocon warmongering is now too "right wing"

[@liaminwales]

The only problem I have with single sex clubs is 'jobs for friends', if it was not for all the networking done I suspect most people will not mind. Jobs for friends is a big problem and I relay dont know what the 'fix' is, it feels like social networking is a second job that ends up being 90% of your work advancements. Yet I also know it's a big risk working with people you dont know, if you need something done it helps to have people you trust vouch for new people to work with. It's also something that happens in a lot of places from churches to pubs, I know people who moved near people in there industry just to network.

[@lonetown]

The discussion on transgender care shows what will happen in the euthanasia case. i.e. escalation with no thought of the consequences.

[@maiq5228]

F G doesn't seem to realise the extent of his own bubbled perspective

[@johncook2303]

It is a little ironic that Ms Johnson is complaining at a lack of access to exclusive clubs for elite women like her. does she not realise it also excludes men too, ie poor men, maybe they should be allowed access too on the grounds that poverty shouldn't be a bar to accessing the rich and powerful, drop the members fees to £50 a year. I bet she'd rush to the Garrick then. What a privileged circumstance to have to concern oneself with.

[@jeffdeering7839]

It would not be the first time Russia had to deal with US-backed terrorists.

[@astrolabe88]

please don't use stock media

[@georgevardan5924]

Shared drones from Ukraine?! Jabbering!

[@ycAuntieLala]

Johnson’s opinion on women only spaces was rather insulting and quite narrow minded from a high handed place. Is there a particular reason that women only clubs would not also have a child care place? What is wrong with mom-entrepreneur? What says that the women would even have to dress up to enter? A lot of assumptions like where she thinks her opinion reflects anyone else’s.

[@slaithegreekc]

“(Abortions) weren’t out of control…. I didn’t happen like that” Right….. she’s not really helped her argument with that one.

[@DailyCorvid]

Chairman Cameron. Does anybody trust this guy?

[@jimbo-yv5jh]

Hug a hoodie, no. another job for the boys.

[@azar1354]

I don't really understand why he's getting such a resentment from the Tory voters. Would any of the previous foreign secretaries (Raab, Cleverly, Truss, Johnson, etc) acted very differently?

[@greyfriars6540]

Nobody trusts Call me Dave.

[@DailyCorvid]

Because of his links to China and his clear bias against our interests. Previous ministers received exactly the same treatment as far as I can tell, as will the next.

[@DailyCorvid]

Especially when the majority of comments reporting truthful things disappear and we can all see this happening. Censorship is the sign of a crook.

[@bengray4149]

I thought the idea of a women's only club was the most boring thing in the world, until I heard a Johnson waffling on about women's only clubs and stood corrected.

[@markrymanowski719]

Women's Masonry hasn't failed. 200 lodges in Britain. Most of them in England.

[@IzzyRumi]

Because of liberal ideology, puberty blocker study and use has always resisted scientific rigor. I believe that the study of THC and the chronic use and potency has also resisted review. The chaos and elevation of bizarre social behavior could be linked to THC. As with drunk driver testing, so should THC testing be done for abhorrent, antisocial acts.

[@jdg9999]

Could we for once have some guests who aren't neocon clowns to talk about Ukraine?

[@Mizzkan]

I doubt any Yank would help Cameron out were he on fire and I don’t blame them. He’s a snake and was useless as a PM.

[@cnrspiller3549]

Oh, I don't know; the blundering fool gave us Brexit by mistake. That was pretty useful 😊

[@28pbtkh23]

@@cnrspiller3549 - I shall always thank him for the EU referendum 👍👍👍

[@jimbo-yv5jh]

Another Johnson grifter, where's there's money you'll find a Johnson.

[@28pbtkh23]

I don’t think that there’s enough money at the Spectator to entice grifters.

[@pikkuoo]

Is Rebecca Wilcox really this ignorant or is she lying?

[@chrisohanlon69]

it's the J agenda

[@maiq5228]

She just wants to get what she wants, to spare herself discomfort. Evidence only counts if it's in favour of her view

[@christopherbrookfield4785]

James sounds a bit blocked up. He ought to kiss his nose a good blow. ❤

[@tomk8729]

Cameron is a profound waste of space. Proof positive that Sanook lost the plot a long time ago.

[@chrisohanlon69]

Rebecca Wilcox, of course has that view being of her background.

[@maiq5228]

Wilcox is wrong about every point she makes, but I take particular issue on saying that people whose views are based on their religious beliefs should be discounted. I find that utterly abhorrent, but not particularly surprising for someone of such privilege to only think those who think like her should be permitted to think

[@robgillies2576]

The slippery slope fallacy is pretty much always a very weak argument for anything.

[@maiq5228]

It's a straightforward logical process that is always shown out in facts

[@chrisohanlon69]

That bearded Ukraine bloke, you've been having him on there since the war started. As far as I can tell he's just constantly been wrong.

[@raphaelponzi]

Your war hawks banging on about Russia sound like they're guessing. The claim that Putin will only be getting told what he wants to hear is just plain stupid.