Overview

• The presenter wrote that an urgent hospital procedure was "Defcon 1 painful" without revealing his medical issue.
• He said he had ditched private health insurance and was two hours from the nearest private hospital when he needed urgent care.
• Despite recently calling the service a "creaking old monster," he reported kind staff, clean facilities and effective treatment.
• In the same column, he argued the NHS is unaffordable in its current form and warned taxes may rise, naming Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
• He floated banning tanning salons, wood-burning stoves and meat as ways to reduce pressure on the health service.