BUTT OUT , MR PRESIDENT
We welcome you as our guest to commemorate D-Day but don’t even think about doing deals with our beloved NHS...
DONALD Trump was last night told to keep his hands off the NHS after he insisted the service must be included in any US trade deal.
Standing alongside Theresa May, the President had warned “everything is on the table” and added: “So NHS or anything else, or a lot more than that.”
It sparked fears of mass privatisation. But Jeremy Corbyn said: “Our NHS is not for sale.” Mr Trump later appeared to row back on his demands.
SWATHES of the NHS could be snapped up by US health giants after Donald Trump declared the service would be part of any trade deal, experts feared last night.
The US President dropped the revelation that he would like America to grab a slice of the potentially lucrative market while he stood next to Theresa May during a discussion on postBrexit alliances.
At a press conference in the Foreign Office, he promised the UK a “phenomenal” trading relationship which could lead to a tripling of trade with the UK.
But he added: “I think everything with a trade deal is on the table.
“So NHS or anything else, or a lot more than that. But everything will be on the table, absolutely.”
That could lead to cost-cutting measures and the price of drugs and medical equipment pushed up.
More than £18billion is spent on drugs prescribed by GPs and hospitals, making it a potentially lucrative market for US pharma firms.
Mr Trump’s comments sparked a furious backlash, with critics lining up to insist the NHS is not for sale.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told a packed anti-Trump protest in Whitehall, Central London: “We will
not stand for that. We will fight with every last breath of our body to defend the principle of a healthcare system free at the point of need for everybody as a human right.
“They all need to understand: Our NHS is not for sale.”
GMB health union chief Rehana Azam added: “Whilst NHS workers are tirelessly delivering healthcare, politicians are tripping over themselves to put our NHS at the mercy of the American market.
“President Trump is just waiting to get his hands on our NHS. There’s a very real danger Conservatives will just hand it over to him in a trade deal.
“You only have to look to America to see how big greedy corporations are and their track record in making money out of sick people.
“This what a future NHS looks like. If this is May’s parting shot then she’ll have misjudged the strength of feeling the public have for our NHS.”
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth described US corporations taking over the NHS as a “nightmare scenario” that would undermine the free, universal public service.
The British Medical Association issued a statement urging all Tory leadership hopefuls to exclude the NHS from any post-Brexit talks.
It said: “We have an unequivocal message for the next Conservative leader and the future Prime Minister: Profit should never take priority over the protection of the health service and the healthcare of citizens.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is running for leadership of his party, hit back at Mr Trump’s proposal.
He posted: “Dear Mr President. The NHS isn’t on the table in trade talks… and never will be. Not on my watch.”
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, his predecessor in health, has already opposed the plan.
Hard Brexiteer Dominic Raab claimed the NHS was “not for sale” and “never would be” if he became PM. But five years ago, Mr Raab wrote a paper setting out how private firms could get easier access to public healthcare. Mr Trump had insisted “everything” must be up for discussion in any transatlantic trade talks after we leave the EU.
Mrs May later attempted to
We will fight with every last breath to defend the principle of a free healthcare system JEREMY CORBYN SPEAKING AT AN ANTI-TRUMP PROTEST IN WHITEHALL
downplay the significance of his remarks. She said: “But the point about making trade deals of course is that both sides negotiate and come to an agreement about what should or should not be in that trade deal.”
Leading Brexiteers have promised that a free trade agreement with the US would be one of the biggest benefits of leaving the EU.
Yet the British public is overwhelmingly opposed to our healthcare system being on offer – and the US is certain to drive a hard bargain. Greater access to the NHS, which deals with more than a million patients every 36 hours, would be a major prize for the US in any future trade deal.
The health service in England spends more than £120billion every year with total expenditure the equivalent of almost 10% of GDP, according to the Nuffield Trust.
It has 1.5 million staff, making it the UK’s biggest employer, across 168 NHS acute trusts, which run hospitals and clinics.
There are almost 140,000 overnight beds available across the country.
The US has a complex system of private health insurance that leaves citizens often facing bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars for simple procedures, and many without access to proper healthcare at all.
It spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, about £2.76 trillion or 18% of GDP, much of