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James Bethell, 5th Baron Bethell

James Bethell, 5th Baron Bethell

Former lord in waiting of the United Kingdom

Aug 20, 2026

4:34
The bits of that I do remember are very sweet, exactly.
4:36
Listen, it was huge fun.
4:37
And I am not a prude or a nanny stater or someone who doesn't enjoy the good things in life.
4:43
But I have become someone who is completely focused on trying to improve the health of the nation.
4:49
And the journey is a bit unusual.
4:51
I went into politics as a consultant.
4:53
I managed a big consultancy and then I started my own.

21 MINS LATER

26:10
Yes,
6:18
But the first thing is the age verification, right? Like banning it completely for the under 16s.
6:22
Yeah.
6:23
Well, what it opened my eyes up to is, well, firstly, the age verification can work.
6:27
And it does work.
6:28
I mean, it works incredibly well.
6:30
You know, the pornography viewing numbers amongst kids have crashed.
6:34
I mean, and what a relief.

19 MINS LATER

25:20
mate, it's
9:46
James, any reflections that you might have on the report? Anything surprising? Any particular bits of insight that you wanted to highlight?
9:54
Oh, and the report tells such a clear story.
9:57
It really jumps off the page.
10:00
There is an unbelievably successful business, an industry that is really thriving, that is formed of three amazing pillars that are all firing on all cylinders.
10:13
The first is the nature of the food that is being bought by the British public in increasingly large quantities.
10:24
A lot of it based around a formula of salt, sugar and fat that is incredibly tasty, appealing and enjoyed thoroughly by the British public who are prepared to pay good money to eat it.
10:40
Secondly is the method of delivery, which is increasingly out of home or delivered to home.

34 MINS LATER

44:22
Lord James Bethel, what gives you hope?
4:31
So how did the passion emerge?
4:33
I am a Londoner.
4:33
I love the idea of the revival of the Thames.
4:36
So this stretch between the lock at Teddington and Putney, swimming is absolutely allowed.
4:42
It's legal under the regulations.
4:44
It's an area that's several times the size of Hyde Park.
4:47
And it was previously an industrial asset where the barges went up and down.
9:29
What are the other issues in getting this race up and running, which I can imagine could be seen in similar terms in visibility to the London Marathon, for example?
127:38
Um, James, what- what's your take on this report that's been released today on physician associates? Ian, this has been a really nasty, vicious battle-
127:48
battle-And I'm hoping that this report will calm things down.
127:52
And it does make some very clear decisions that I think are helpful.
127:56
I think it's probably right that physician associates should not be diagnosing public, members of the public as they walk into GP surgeries.
128:04
That's probably gotta stop.
128:06
I regret that they've been downgraded into being called assistants.
128:10
I think that's quite denigrating.
130:28
It's the nurse.

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