Did Liz Truss really consider scrapping cancer treatment on the NHS?
The News Agents
Global
4.1 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2024
⏱️ 38 minutes
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Summary
The disastrous "mini budget" of Liz Truss' short time in Downing Street will go down in history. But did she really consider stopping the NHS treating cancer patients in a bid to find the savings to clean up the fallout?
Jon and Lewis speak to political biographer, Sir Anthony Seldon, about the dramatic 49 days of the shortest serving British Prime Minister.
Editor: Tom Hughes
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity. |
| 0:08.9 | This is a global player original podcast. |
| 0:12.6 | Just when you think that the Liz Trust's premiership, all 49 days of it, can't get any more unbelievable that a new book comes out with an absolute |
| 0:24.1 | eye-popping, jaw-dropping, astonishing detail that one of the things that was under |
| 0:30.7 | consideration when she had to make huge cuts was to stop cancer treatment on the National Health Service. The NHS, free at the |
| 0:41.9 | point of use, unless you've got cancer. This is a book from Sir Anthony Selden, Trussetton, |
| 0:48.1 | Tress at 10, which has just been published. And Sir Anthony is perhaps the most august, preeminent chronicler of contemporary British politics. |
| 0:58.1 | He has written a book about the premiership of every prime minister going all the way back to Sir John Major and indeed is an expert on many others before that as well. |
| 1:08.4 | There is no better person to talk to, particularly at a time |
| 1:12.6 | when we've just had a new prime minister come to office about leadership, about what it takes |
| 1:18.4 | to be a successful prime minister, and in particular, why Liz Tross made such a calamitous one. |
| 1:25.5 | Welcome to the newsagents. |
| 1:30.1 | The Newsagents. |
| 1:31.8 | It's John. It's Lewis. |
| 1:33.4 | And you kind of can't imagine that there are many more stories to tell of the 49 days. |
| 1:38.1 | There's only 49. |
| 1:39.1 | How many stories can there be? |
| 1:41.1 | And yet. |
| 1:41.9 | And yet. And yet. And yet. |
| 1:47.7 | What Sir Anthony Selden has done is talk to all the key people involved. And because he is such a reliable and respected figure, people do want to talk to him. |
| 1:54.7 | And all the other prime ministers he has spoken to and he has spoken to those who were most |
| 1:59.1 | closely involved in the decision |
... |
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