Did Liz Truss really consider scrapping cancer treatment on the NHS? | The News Agents

[@DE-xt7jv]

Truss pretended to be thatcher, Boris pretended to be Churchill. Both were neither. What buffoons.

[@andrewrobinson2565]

Fabulous comment 🤩 +1.

[@sarfendboy]

@@andrewrobinson2565 couldn't agree more. @DE-xt7jv has nailed it!

[@theman2017inc]

CORRECT ON BOTH POINTS

[@nickblackshaw9660]

Johnson was Churchill ... Not the PM, but the dog off the advert 😂

[@theman2017inc]

@@nickblackshaw9660 HARSH very funny but harsh

[@englandcalling9721]

Truss, Johnson and Trump, share the continuing belief, they are of greater importance, than the offices they held.

[@alana8863]

They believe they are of importance. Couldn't be more wrong!

[@ChienNoob]

Well said.

[@wastag9412]

Perhaps Johnson and Truss genuinely have the messianic streak but I struggle to think Trump holds any genuine conviction for his importance to anyone other than himself. For him I reckon it's a matter of personal gain, using and abusing official office and the popularity required to line his own pockets and dodge consequences for criminal actions. Maybe vanity is a neat bonus or just another trinket that he must sacrifice all to collect.

[@Auriflamme]

Truss is an ideologue, she seems to believe her own bluster. Trump and Johnson on the other hand are self-interested opportunists, who only believe in their own greatness and worthiness.

[@quiltygal6981]

​@@wastag9412 I agree with you in as much as that was how he started off seeing a grift opportunity then the power went to his head as it would a vindictive person but I truly believe that now he believes he is the chosen one! So so scary!

[@bweb6]

All the details revealed so far about Liz Truss' 49 day period as prime minister just seem to get worse and worse. I do agree with this guest when he says Truss and Johnson were totally unfit for the position of prime minister.

[@daftgowk1]

None of them were fit to be MPs, or even human beings really, but, the English kept voting for them. Never to be forgiven

[@bakedbean37]

@@daftgowk1 "the English" A very tiny subset. Don't blame me. I was screaming at the top of my lungs what disasters they both would be.

[@blazzz13]

@@daftgowk1I'm English and didn't vote for neither. Perhaps you need to narrow that to the grey vote as statistics from every election show.

[@daftgowk1]

@@blazzz13 @bweb6 i get that all of the English didnt vote for all the decades of theft and death, and Brexit, but there were landslides, there were many many many fascists and thieves voted for, over many years, under protest from the rest of the UK for decades (only to be told that we hate you). "It wisnae me" doesn't cut it anymore. My son was born in London, i was there for 15 years, i have seen them ignore the rest of the UK and put us down when we stand against it. Never mind the blatant profiteering down south when i pay more for my energy than those in London, but my family have been steeped in oil since the 70s, but you all claim that we take more than we give, we are the thieves. Blatant lies supported by the English voters for most of the last 50 years

[@daftgowk1]

@@blazzz13 the algorithm wont let me reply with the correct rebuttal to this. I know it's wrong to label an entire people, but that is the English way, running scared of people in wee boats that they like to disingenuously label as illegal immigrants. Little England seems very small nowadays, and scared to take ownership of what it stands for. No wonder, we tend to fight fascism up here, my grandad certainly did. They betrayed all of that in my lifetime, collectively and repeatedly

[@pennywynn8716]

That Liz Truss is a Trump supporter tells me all I need to know about her.

[@russellbradley454]

U didn't know what planet are you living on.

[@barbaraarndt5293]

She was on the podium of the US Heritage Foundation (the authors of Project 25) Empty Room!...

[@vilebrequin6923]

Quite so. Someone displaying that characteristic could never be described as 'rational'.

[@wilsel1394]

How did that happen? MPs should go through psychological screening before being allowed to take office. Truss would have been ruled out within a couple of minutes.

[@roddunne]

Fantastic riveting interview.

[@TravelinChina]

'Odder than most' This should be written as the caption underneath every Truss photo.

[@sbor2020]

Sir Anthony had fascinating insights and understanding of historical contexts. Only a few but great questions, and observations. Proper long-form journalism. Thanks a lot!

[@PhilipHaddon]

Harold Wilson, polytechnics, open university, and no troups to Vietnam.... Not too bad surely.

[@grippingyarnsuk]

Truss was also Foreign Secretary when Putin invaded Ukraine. That went well too … not .

[@bensalt1185]

Very odd to see and hear my old headmaster and history teacher on here...his cadence and voice hasn't changed! Brilliant well researched modern review of someone who never should have been able to get this close to power let alone be elected. It was 49 days too long...

[@Fraz725]

She was a Tufton Street AI Bot.

[@sbor2020]

Interestingly, Sir Anthony's father - Arthur Seldon - was the co-founder of the IEA,

[@benmorris118]

Could describe a lot of the past govt like that

[@lolly1811]

Exactly !

[@colinwhyte3402]

The more you hear about Liz Truss's thinking. The more you have to question her actual character & comprehension of reality

[@CT99234]

Look up the meaning of the Dunning Kruger effect and it's just a picture of her constantly baffled face.

[@wilsel1394]

With respect to other people with autism, she is quite clearly quite high on the spectrum, as is Boris Johnson. An inability to read people and to shift perspective as events occur. Not great qualities for PM.

[@alayneperrott9693]

Liz Truss has so little empathy and understanding of people that she acts like a robot.

[@theman2017inc]

TRUTH BUT the majority of the Tory Party membership voted for her

[@martinamckeown.4936]

An absolutely fantastic episode 👏🏻great questions! Thanks so much

[@lawrencenoctor2703]

Ego on the scale of of Truss/Johnson cannot see beyond itself.

[@GeoffV-k1h]

I have believed for some time that Truss is probably insane.

[@adamlee3772]

A few days after the general election, one of her former colleagues was interviewed and he actually said words to that effect. He actually said something like "her family need to conduct an intervention." It was quite astounding and her behaviour since shows she is really quite unhinged and, please remember, she had the nuclear codes.

[@thaumaturgeishere331]

"Britian is in a difficult position" - a shining example of an understatement.

[@grahammccready2647]

"Level up" was just a throw away phrase. It meant nothing

[@cameronfateweaver2206]

NEVER FORGET that it was a cabal of older, wealthy, Tories that voted for liz truss. Tax the rich, tax property, tax pensions - tax them out of existence.

[@simony2801]

Why

[@blazzz13]

@@simony2801 Why not?

[@simony2801]

@@blazzz13 pretty well sums up the idiotic lefties. Let’s tax them out of existence, oh I forgot, they don’t contribute anything.

[@riccardo-964]

Let this sink in: today is 31/August/2024 and Starmer has outdone Lettuce (58 days x 49 days) :D

[@brian5154]

Shouldn't prise Thatcher so much. Watch all the privitisation she brought in be undone.............

[@russellbradley454]

Be careful Didn't like Thatcher but history will show she was the longest serving Prime Minister and under her second term in office Britain had its best economic since time's WWII getting rid of inefficient industry and poor working practices like the rest of Western Europe.

[@woofla123]

I think Blair made a far more positive impact than Thatcher.

[@macsmiffy2197]

I agree.

[@kitbag9033]

I disagree.

[@linmorell1813]

As Thatcher said her biggest legacy was Blair.

[@AndyRossism]

She should have been in a secure wing of someplace, before she got near Downing St. That this country let her and Johnson get to where they did is such a damning insight into the state of this country and some of its voters.

[@donaldjohnson4756]

Excellent guest and great questions. Come to the USA!

[@FranzBieberkopf]

Thatcher's disastrous legacy lives on. The Lettuce even dressed like Thatcher!!

[@hauskalainen]

"All the way back to Sir John Major"... as HM the late Queen would have said "Thank you for making me feel so old". I was conceived when Mr Churchill was still Prime Minister, and I'm not even 70 yet.

[@niahays1042]

The Popper thing is relevant. However, for her, to say that she graphed on an ideology is far too kind. She was a bad actor. Not serious. Had no concern for the people of this country. Nonetheless, brilliant conversation here.

[@GerryHat-trick]

Am excellent interview, and a fair summary of all the characters. I think well highlighted, by the fact that Jon and Lewis were happy to sit and listen to Sir Anthony for as long as he needed to take to answer a question. I enjoyed this episode immensely, the insight is fascinating.

[@charlespirate1]

Seldon comes across as a man who perhaps would have liked trusses ideas to succeed and has to blame their failure on her personality to avoid confronting the ideas

[@michaelhearn3052]

It must be realised that is book(s) are based on a number of individual interviews of people close to the person who the book is about. So, it is likely that his opinions may well be influenced by those interviewees own opinions.

[@coppershark1973]

Skating on thin ice of misogyny here. They didn’t speak about Johnson’s mental health and he was equally as strange.

[@AndyRossism]

I disagree, plenty people talked about the Sociopathy of Johnson. Truss is clearly not a well balanced individual, and she neither wants or needs your concern. Their both awful messed up people.

[@jonbuckland2397]

This is,an interview about Anthony’s book on Truss. Hence they are talking about Truss.

[@kayess2634]

Excellent, thank you!

[@viccifranklin3165]

Didn’t notice the ahhhs until I read the comments because I found him very interesting but now it’s annoying me 😵‍💫

[@B1gstar14]

Narcissism 101 from Truss. She wanted and tried to apply complete control, of everything & everybody, until she didn't have it. Then she just blamed everyone else.

[@mariGentle]

I'm not sure that Cameron was fit to be PM he was just as self serving as all the others

[@gumusluk05]

Her family must be pulling their hair out 🤔

[@roydom5]

I believe her father is pretty left wing

[@CovidIslandDiscs]

"Was she irrational?" "No she was frighteningly rational. She was overly rational and underly emotional" oh so you are describing a psychopath then? (Joke intended, I think 😉).

[@bernardcollier1226]

Is she okay, talk to civil servants who worked with her years ago. I think you will find this was her behaviour from the beginning. Undiagnosed mental health issue?

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

It's a study in hubris. Trust The Greeks to describe it so long ago.

[@rorysparshott4223]

Baffled by how he can consider Blair not to have left us stronger.

[@Sean006]

Yes, he didn't define what makes a country stronger and how one measures it.

[@RoddyUKX]

I think he was referring to Iraq

[@rorysparshott4223]

@@RoddyUKX I can't see how Iraq made us weaker though. That's not to say anything on whether Iraq was right morally but when has morals affected strength?

[@korolev-musictodriveby6583]

He's a Tory ! And the youngest son of the founder of the IEA...

[@rorysparshott4223]

@@korolev-musictodriveby6583 No he isn't.

[@PaulReuter-n9b]

Fascinating listen.

[@michaelhearn3052]

@user-nb8ug4pm7u Yes, his book Boris at 10 published last year was a great read. BTW Bojos' own book comes out in October.

[@jtrevm]

With Truss it seems like 'lettuce pray..' not.

[@sarcasticstartrek7719]

"Of course she was unusually odd." - 16:00 the way he answers that so quickly lol.

[@petercassidy0628]

How did she get to be a mp but then a cabinet minister but then became the pm of the uk it was just how the tories really lost there minds truss was a complete head case" frighting she had the power to press the red button .

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

He has a moral code. That's got to be an improvement.

[@Fanto_Sir]

Great interview, apart from the cacophony or "Urr"

[@1701enter]

A first class episode, much more than can be said fore BJ/LT ! My only disagreement is that LT is barking mad at the very least… History will tell you its verdict, I will be long gone! (Thatcher was so far up her own fundament she could see Brighton from Westminster)

[@razabadass]

Thans

[@nikoforu]

she... huh... thought... huh... what... the... bureau... huh... cracy... huh ... was... huh... out...huh... to get... huh.... her.

[@GrubStLodger]

That's why he's a writer, not a broadcaster.

[@davidmonkman6677]

Excellent episode..Its frightening that the most important position in Britain requires real ability to do the job merely the ability to convince other intellectually challenged individuals that you can do it.....😅

[@JW-nu2rt]

Thank you so much to take in beyond politics. I have a new Service Manager who is just like Liz Truss😢

[@KateClose-p9l]

The Tories have swung too far to the right. They need to reinvent themselves and regain some of the middle ground.

[@korolev-musictodriveby6583]

Not at all , they can remain out of power in perpetuity . Please .

[@geezerbutler4582]

Reform are taking their right wing voters away leaving not much ground to occupy Then Johnson’s purge of moderate MPs means it’s scorched earth ground too …

[@creasedlinen]

I can't ahhhh….listen ahhhhh to this ahhhhhhh.…ahhhhhh man

[@megannehover]

Could be a technique developed to combat a speech impediment. Be kind.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

One of my aunts was a senior civil servant at the treasury, for the old "Supertax Office" at The Treasury, under Atlee to The Wicked Witch of The West.

[@dmd7472]

Love this guy…

[@david1731048]

Fascinating interview but all of those "UHHHHHHH"s after every few words is pretty grating.

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

Hmm - I doubt any political commentator who claims they don't know what Blairs' Third Way was about. For it to be true they would be ignorant of the work of Isiah Berlin and the two models of government. Those being Positive and Negative Liberty, Each has it benefits and pitfalls and Blairs aim was to find a third model that could achieve a balance between the two.

[@markrussell6881]

Personally I've always found Tony Seldon an insufferable bore in person, but his PM books are excellent and his assessment of them is insightful. (Although I always feel he thinks he is their superior,and really it was only a twist of fate that stopped him rising to the office.)

[@barbaraarndt5293]

Boris Johnson in Number 10. Super book.

[@DeclanOKaneMD]

I think to not see the job as a narcissistic prize

[@andrewrobinson2565]

I'd love to hear his "Cordwangler", but I hope he's edited his "ahs" out of his book. Keir must "cohere" 👍😀+1.

[@williama-d6]

Did he write Cameron at 10?

[@michaelhearn3052]

Yes, and a number of others also, Boris at 10, May at 10, etc.

[@alantheinquirer7658]

Truss was 'programmed' to believe utterly in the free market economy by the Think Tanks on Tufton Street.

[@macsmiffy2197]

This could be his best seller!

[@bernardcollier1226]

Lewis is spot on about Wilson. The derision was awful.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

"Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me!" Kenneth Williams! 😋

[@Jack42Frost]

Is the studio very cold?

[@thewalrus1968]

hes hard work aaaaaaah to aaaaaah listen aaaaaaah to

[@nihalperera2242]

The government should have the backbone to reverse what liz did and thats 40 billion pounds.that gets rid of the current black hole.

[@simac3880]

uhhhh, ummmm, uhhhh, uhhhhh

[@megannehover]

Could be a technique developed to combat a speech impediment. Be kind.

[@simac3880]

@@megannehover What twaddle. Sir Anthony doesn't have a speech impediment! This extreme level of fumbling between words is a habit of self-important Oxbridge people (Such as Boris and Rory Stewart). Communicators who demonstrate an effort to be clear show respect for the people listening to them.

[@PerryLee-sv3cg]

Go to work crazies.

[@michels2358]

Most uninteresting podcast of the year. Thank you

[@TrevorBarre]

The Crying of Lot 49 Days?

[@amourgalgo]

more ahs than a month ofg Sundays

[@hephaestion12]

Not sure i can take someone seriously who believes that the institute of economic affairs did 'years of research'

[@korolev-musictodriveby6583]

His father was a co-founder .

[@Jan-se1nd]

Why does Seldon keep mentioning in interviews that Liz Truss was right to want growth? Who didn't or doesn't want growth? He sounds like he hasn't a clue about economics.

[@alfsmith4936]

Ironically, his father, Arthur Seldon was the co founder of the IEA.

[@Jan-se1nd]

@@alfsmith4936 To be fair, extreme supply side economists are to blame for a lot of malady.

[@korolev-musictodriveby6583]

Like his dad !

[@kacrichton4434]

Growth cannot be unlimited. It would be great if we didn't need growth to prosper (in fact, we don't. It's repayment of debt that requires endless growth). This is a huge problem when living in a finite planet that is probably in the process of shaking off the perturbating influence (I.e. us).

[@daveyboy1304]

Where's Emily?

[@michaeladkins6]

Vacation

[@geezerbutler4582]

Iceberg Dim

[@redmed10]

People like this writer keep on saying she's smart but she's not said or done anything to suggest she is smart. She always comes across as mad as a box of frogs. She looked crazy as a young girl when she spoke at a conference and does not seem to have matured in any way.

[@keithjackson8076]

For goodness sake edit the Ahh's out? They make it impossible to listen to let alone understand this.

[@jokedejojo]

Can you imagine editing out hundreds of ah's because they are slightly irritating?

[@ProgZombie]

Can you imagine not being able to understand a basic conversation just because of a few filler words? Wild.

[@coppershark1973]

Uuuuhmmm…

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

The Wicked Witch of The West used to terrify me. She had a cogent politics, not one I agreed with. The Human Hand Grenade was like watching an anarchistic whirling dervish! 😶😐🙄😳🤔

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

That weird looking man from The Tufty Club, the alleged economist was pouring poison in her ear.

[@stephenbarrette610]

Brilliant interview - Truss might be ‘rational’ but she acted like a narcissist megalomaniac who reminded me of someone …

[@adamlee3772]

Whilst this is a fascinating subject, I cannot list to this guy anymore. Every second word is interrupted with a really grating annoying nasally "ahhhh" or "ermmm." for Christs sakes. Is he a part time foghorn?

[@LuffyDaGoat]

Errmmmm ermmmm ahhhh ahhhh ermmmm ahhhh ohhhhh ermmmm ahhhhh

[@rohanharridge5579]

I despised Tories long before I could vote & always will. But they aren't in power now. Under this new new Labour government my water bill has gone up nearly 50%, energy is getting hiked as well & as a social housing tenant I've been informed that my rent is going to be increasing over the next ten years to bring it closer to rip off market prices. I don't care how bad the Tories were now, when Starmer got to be leader of Labour he did so my saying privately owned utilities were going to be brought back into public control & now they're enabling them. How about a little bit of journalism covering exactly who our new MP's are, where they came from, what they've done in the past, what their interests are & who funds them. I was struggling under the Tories but in only a few weeks this Labour government has managed to make my difficult financial circumstances impossible & they've destroyed any semblance of hope I had for the future. Truss was a disaster but it was Osbourne who broke our economy & the new chancellor is essentially Osbourne in a frock.

[@Globaldave1970]

You've been conned. The whole economic model/Ponzi scheme is moribund. "Things can only get ... worse'

[@DE-xt7jv]

May should have stayed

[@michaelhearn3052]

Not possible. She made herself a target by doing all the negotiations herself, and her deal failed. Now May survived two votes of no confidence, one in December 2018 and another in January 2019, but after the versions of her draft withdrawal agreement got rejected by Parliament three times, and also importantly, her party's own poor performance in the May 2019 European Parliament election, she resigned and left office on 24 July; being succeeded by Boris Johnson.

[@andymoody8363]

Yes, yes, we all know Truss was an idiot and should never have got within a hundred miles of parliament never mind No.10 but can we discuss Lewis's hair? I love Lewis, and as a fellow Brummie, and a man with a large forehead myself I have to say that growing your hair vertically is no compensation for a receding hairline. A flatter style would be much more flattering, come on Lewis, embrace the large forehead, it's a sign of intelligence!

[@cherylnathanodette]

I feel for Liz, that lady will be blamed for the weather next. If she did want to scrap cancer treatment shame on her. But was she advised to was she given facts, figures and alternatives. Please share the full story. I wouldn't want to be a fly on Lizs wall that day.

[@-slasht]

From what I understand in the interview, she (Truss) asked for all options how to save enough money to finance the tax cuts she wanted to do. Removing cancer treatment is a thing that is possible to do, so on the list there was an entry explaining how much it would save and what the likely consequences might be. Then a bunch of advisors, after delivering the list) got the impression that she might possibly consider it maybe and that is the story I guess? Like he said impossible to know what she was thinking. That is until her WhatsApp leaks

[@hjl4330]

Question: Did Lliz Truss really consider scrapping cancer treatment on the NHS? SJD stated " it is impossible to Know" end of discussion.

[@Sean006]

One word for Truss.....deluded. But I seriously doubt she thought of cancelling NHS cancer treatment.....but it sells books i suppose. Got annoyed by the use of 'Erm' though.

[@alfsmith4936]

She would happily 'ship it out' to the private sector

[@Sean006]

@@alfsmith4936 It does seem to fit the pattern of privatisation of the NHS but this would have been too big a move (in one go). I can see this was on a list of things that could be done to save money....probably along with re-joining the EU and scrapping our nuclear subs. Ideas floated by the civil service - Sir Humphrey style - to scare the minister into seeing 'sense'. When the author was asked about it he was vague and there were lots of 'ahhhs' and 'ummms'. So it looks like a made up story based on a list (created by a civil servant) to sell a book....and it has worked. I wonder if there is a term for this...'almost fake news'.

[@megannehover]

Could be a technique developed to combat a speech impediment. Be kind.

[@Sean006]

@@megannehover Just a statement of fact. I found it annoying at times. But I listened to the whole thing & it was interesting at times. I did wonder if his speech was a sign of nervousness due to his unsubstantiated claims (only Truss could know what she was seriously considering...unless she documented her thinking at the time!). But perhaps he had a speech impediment. How do you tell the difference?

[@jimschannel2220]

Psychopath?

[@cherylnathanodette]

Chances are she wasn't given every fact at hand, you need all the facts to do your job correctly, misinformation in any business will cause errors. Communication is key in everything.

[@tonyivison]

Your hair seems to have developed a life of its own Lewis - very distracting

[@kacrichton4434]

Supersayen (I'm sorry, I don't know how to correctly spell this...)

[@simony2801]

She was an idiot, but the cancer thing is just clickbait so he can flog a book.

[@michaelhearn3052]

Not true, his books sell anyway.

[@simony2801]

@@michaelhearn3052 no it was done to sell a book.

[@russellbradley454]

Are you listening to the same broadcast he never said anything off the sort, he himself says he was just quoting other sources.

[@russellbradley454]

Been a fan of political history since my teens and find his analyst fascinating.

[@michaelhearn3052]

@@simony2801 No I disagree with you. The list of some 70 things to stop had worse things than what we are talking about, if you research it, he is quoting what his sources said. Equally the list was written by Civil Servants in an attempt to stop the course of action to be undertaken by LT.

[@Floyd-df2uq]

Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhh she Ahhhh Ahhhh... Oh eff off!

[@Sean006]

Yes. It was annoying at times.

[@Fran-sf6vh]

Guess it's why he's a writer not a speaker?

[@ChienNoob]

Charming...

[@Floyd-df2uq]

@@ChienNoob oh I say. Wot wot.

[@megannehover]

Could be a technique developed to combat a speech impediment. Be kind.

[@MartinRussell-b1d]

What a thoroughly irritating, ahhhhhh, speaker.

[@bencops]

Strikes me as someone who speaks very well for someone who has chosen the written word

[@MartinRussell-b1d]

@@bencops it’s possible to do both.

[@bencops]

@@MartinRussell-b1dof course! I couldn’t though

[@hawsrulebegin7768]

He’s a journalist not a presenter. But he’s very interesting with some great knowledge of the PM job. Worth getting past his speech patterns.

[@MartinRussell-b1d]

@@hawsrulebegin7768 I agree. Hugely respected guy. I am, however, allowed to say that I found his relentless “ummms” and “ahhhh”s a little grating!

[@boaky0965]

I am no Trust fan, however the truth is the civil service used this as example of how much her tax cuts would cost, she didn't ask for this and it was an example of the cost of her cuts by the civil service, not something she was thinking of doingL!!!!!!

[@robertdarby6553]

Truss would have more credibility had she put her budget through the OBR. Kwateng and her deliberately refused to do that because they didn't want to hear the answer.

[@boaky0965]

@@robertdarby6553 completely agree, however this one point is incorrect, she has enough that she got wrong!

[@bruceshaw2402]

Has this interviewer been to the same hairdresser as Trump all that hair balanced on the top of his head looks ridiculous.

[@andyyorath2732]

Ah, ahh, ahhh ...... aARGH!!! Absolutely unlistenable. The guy needs speech therapy. Awful content for a podcast.

[@robinspat]

And Carol is still brilliant and so right Voters don’t trust politicians. The few that voted for you voted against more Tories. THAT DOES NOT mean they trust you. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaqseXV3oNiXfM0