NHS access talks with US: Corbyn
BRITISH Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn offered yesterday what he described as evidence that access to Britain’s state-run health service was being discussed in trade talks with the US, handing reporters hundreds of pages of documents.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied that the National Health Service (NHS) is on the table in talks, but Corbyn said he had copies of leaked documents called “UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group full readout” suggesting otherwise.
The NHS, much loved in Britain, has become a key battleground before a December 12 election, which Johnson called to try to break the deadlock in parliament over the country’s exit from the EU.
Corbyn may also be keen to shift the narrative away from criticism on Tuesday over what Britain’s chief rabbi said was his failure to stem anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.
The governing Conservatives and Labour are offering very different visions for Britain, but both have pledged more funding for the NHS.
Corbyn said he had 451 pages of unredacted documents summarising UK-US talks and accused Johnson of plotting to sell off the NHS.
Both leaders have made frequent visits to hospitals during the campaign.
More than three years since Britain voted to leave the EU, it is as yet unclear how, when or even whether Brexit will happen.
Johnson is offering voters a quick Brexit, while Corbyn says he will get the issue sorted in six months.
The most recent document published by Labour on Wednesday, from a meeting in early July just before Johnson became prime minister, says the US team was clear that the outcome of Britain’s talks with the EU would have an impact.
“There would be all to play for in a no-deal situation but UK commitment to the (EU’s) Customs Union and Single Market would make a UK-US FTA (free trade agreement) a non-starter,” the document said.
Asked by reporters if he had firm evidence that ministers had agreed the health service should be part of trade talks, Corbyn said: “They sanctioned the talks, they are obviously fully aware of the talks. They are the ones that were declining to make the documents public in the first place.”