Liz Truss reportedly considered cutting free cancer care on the NHS as her mini-Budget unravelled, prompting advisers to exclaim: “She’s lost the plot.”

Historian Sir Anthony Seldon’s book about Ms Truss’s tumultuous 49 days in Downing Street claims that aides were told the former prime minister was contemplating far-reaching cuts so she could deliver her tax-cutting agenda.

The plan, outlined by then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in the House of Commons, sparked turmoil in the financial markets and plunged the government into a desperate fight for its survival.

Extracts of Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister, published in The Independent, said adviser Alex Boyd “was told that Truss and Kwarteng were thinking they could still sort out the black hole with severe cuts”.

The book went on: “‘We’ve been told that they’re looking at stopping cancer treatment on the NHS,’ they told him.

“‘Is she being serious?’ Boyd asked. ‘She’s lost the plot,’ they replied. ‘She’s shouting at everyone – at us and officials that we’ve ‘got to find the money!’ When we tell her it can’t be done, she shouts back: ‘It’s not true. The money is there. You go and find it.’”

The Express has contacted Ms Truss’s office for comment.