FICTION: the NHS is of the table in post Brexit trade
According to the Sun, Boris Johnson’s senior staff sent “a stinging letter to Trade Secretary Liz Truss’s office” back in August.
“In it, one of the PM’s officials says: “The Prime Minister has asked me to underline that measures affecting the NHS, including service provision and drug pricing, cannot under any circumstances form part of an agreement with the United States. These issues are not on the table and we do not therefore expect to see any internal discussion of them in Whitehall. I’d be grateful if you could ensure the relevant policy teams are aware of this.”
FACT: We can’t trust Johnson with our NHS
Conservative Parliamentary Candidates have been ordered to not sign pledges to defend the NHS from trade deals and privatisation.
This is after over a million people have signed our petition to keep Donald Trump’s hands off our NHS since we launched it in the summer and findings that over half of the public are concerned about the impact a trade deal could have on the NHS.
In the Conservative HQ briefing notes leaked to The Guardian newspaper, candidates are told not to sign any pledges to: “protect our NHS from trade deals with new legislation which ends privatisation.”
This sounds suspiciously like a reference to our latest campaign – which asks people to write to their MP to do just that.
Two weeks ago ministers blocked an amendment to the Queen’s Speech calling for legislation to protect the NHS from being sold off in any future trade deals.
Introduced by Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth the proposal was defeated by a margin of just 28 votes, despite the Liberal Democrats abstaining.
We have only Johnson’s word the NHS is off the table – and he has repeatedly failed to protect the NHS, and abandoned promises and principles - like no border in the Irish Sea!
Only last week the Government was the focus of revelations that UK ministers had discussed the potential role NHS and drug prices in future trade deal negotiations.
Why not ask your local parliamentary candidates to sign the pledge the Tories hate?
This article was originally published in Health Campaigns Together election special newspaper.
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