Lord Sumption to a lady with stage 4 cancer:

'I didn't say your life was not valuable, I said it was less valuable.'

Let's really break this down and realise just how awful a statement it is and the repercussions it may

Firstly, it's more than worth saying it was an abhorrent and thoughtless comment devoid of empathy. No matter what utilitarian argument you may field, it cannot be made on a 1:1 basis, or on the inherent value of life. That is beyond any of us.

The secondary issue here, the primary being how this person now feels and will feel, is the impact it will have on those in similar positions and how the public may perceive this overall and in groups. This may be complicated.

A large public outcry built of empathy is inevitable, and I am doing the same here. It is callous and cruel. But the complexity of balancing resources is one where decisions made on population levels will inevitably leave deserving people left behind. I hate that.

Balancing a pandemic with urgent services was always going to be tricky. Both are urgent, both require resources, and the NHS has adapted as it can. The most urgent of non-covid cases are being dealt with as rapidly as possible, but we cannot say that everything will be caught.