[obpress] NEWS FROM OPEN BRITAIN: Bradshaw - Jeremy Hunt must rule out NHS sell-off in US trade deal

From: Adrian McMenamin <adrian.mcmenamin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Adrian McMenamin <adrian.mcmenamin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2018 18:17:06 +0000

[cid:image001.png@01D3A03F.D9E23220]
IMMEDIATE RELEASE, WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2018

Bradshaw – Jeremy Hunt must rule out NHS sell-off in US trade deal

Former health minister Ben Bradshaw MP has this evening written to Jeremy Hunt,
calling on him to ensure that the NHS is excluded from any trade negotiations
with the United States, and to confirm that he would not support any trade deal
that allowed greater access for American companies.

The letter follows Theresa May’s refusal at Prime Minister’s Questions to
provide an absolute guarantee that the NHS will be excluded from the scope of
any future trade negotiations.

In the letter, Ben Bradshaw, who is also a member of the Health Select
Committee and a leading supporter of Open Britain, writes:

“This is a matter of grave concern to everyone who cares about the future of
the NHS. It is quite extraordinary that the Government does not yet have a
position on whether it will fully protect the health service in future trade
negotiations.

“It is even more remarkable coming just days after President Trump took to
Twitter to attack the principle of a publicly-funded National Health Service.

“Could you therefore confirm that you will use your position to ensure that the
NHS is excluded from any negotiations with the United States, and that you
would not support any trade deal that allowed greater access for American
companies?

“Anything less will only create further anxiety at a time when the NHS is
already experiencing such severe pressures.”

/ends

Notes to editors

For all media enquiries and bids, call Adrian McMenamin on 07812 766017. When
reporting this story, please reference the Open Britain campaign.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Jeremy,

I am writing to express my concern at the Prime Minister's refusal to rule out
allowing American companies greater access to business in the NHS as part of a
potential future trade agreement with the United States.

Asked by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats if she would give an absolute
guarantee that the NHS will be excluded from the scope of any future trade
negotiations with the United States, she categorically refused to do so. When
pressed on this question, a Downing Street spokesman later said: “We do not yet
have an existing position on a trade deal that is yet to be negotiated."

This is a matter of grave concern to everyone who cares about the future of the
NHS. It is quite extraordinary that the Government does not yet have a position
on whether it will fully protect the health service in future trade
negotiations. It is even more remarkable coming just days after President Trump
took to Twitter to attack the principle of a publicly-funded National Health
Service. Given the robust defence you made in response to that insult, in which
you made clear your support for the principle of a taxpayer-funded health
system that provides universal coverage, I hope you will agree that there can
be compromising over whether US healthcare companies should have greater
involvement in the UK health system.

Voters were promised a stronger and better-funded health service after Brexit,
bolstered by an alleged £350m extra per week. Nobody was told that leaving the
EU would result in trade negotiations with the United States involving the NHS.
And there is little public support for such a policy. So there should be no
equivocation from the Government.

Could you therefore confirm that you will use your position to ensure that the
NHS is excluded from any negotiations with the United States, and that you
would not support any trade deal that allowed greater access for American
companies? Anything less will only create further anxiety at a time when the
NHS is already experiencing such severe pressures, not least because of
staffing shortages and the weakening of the public finances since the
referendum.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Ben Bradshaw MP

[obpress] NEWS FROM OPEN BRITAIN: Bradshaw - Jeremy Hunt must rule out NHS sell-off in US trade deal

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