Trump says jump, Johnson asks how high?

Sir, – This week the trade Bill had it’s third and final reading in the Westminster Parliament.

This Bill will pave the way for the trade deal between the US and the UK.

Secret talks have been taking place between Prime Minister Johnson and President Trump to ensure that the deal is in place before December when the UK formally leaves the European Union.

We know that Trump has said that in any trade talks “everything” is on the table.

This would include, the further privatisation of the NHS; a lowering of food standards to enable the importation of US food stuffs produced at much lower health standards; the lowering of data protection rules to allow the transfer of our personal data to US companies and clauses that will allow US companies to sue the government for loss of earnings if they pass rules and regulations that impinge upon the corporations’ ability to make a profit.

All the amendments to the trade Bill, designed to protect against these threats, have been rejected by the government.

So we can only assume that they are part of the deal.

What may give us clues on how the trade talks are progressing could be seen last week, when Trump claimed credit for the UK Government decision to ditch Huawei from our digital networks at considerable cost to the UK taxpayer.

The ease with which Johnson gave in to Trump’s demands does not bode well for him protecting us from chlorinated chicken, protecting the NHS and eroding the safe guarding of our personal data.

It would appear that when Trump says jump, Johnson asks how high? Brian Batson. 7 Lour Road, Forfar.