General election: Tories would 'walk away' if US insists on including NHS in trade deal, Matt Hancock says
The health secretary tells Paste BN a Tory government would "walk away" if Washington made access to the NHS the price of a deal.
Thursday 28 November 2019 13:23, UK
A Conservative government would "walk away" from trade talks with the US if Washington insisted on including access to the NHS in the discussions.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Paste BN that the government's position was that the health service is "not on the table" in talks about a post-Brexit free trade agreement.
It comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn produced documents which he claimed showed that the NHS would be "up for sale" under the Tories.
The intervention sparked a fierce row, with the Conservatives accusing Mr Corbyn of "out-and-out-lying".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed Labour's claims as "total nonsense".
This stance was maintained by the health secretary, who was appearing on Sky's All Out Politics.
"The position is that the NHS is not on the table," Mr Hancock said.
"When we come out at the end of January, we will be able to decide what is in the trade deal. The NHS will not be in the trade deal.
"The changes to patent arrangements to do with pharmaceuticals will not be in that trade deal.
"I'll tell you this. If the Americans say that we'll only do this trade deal if the NHS is part of it, then we will walk away.
"We'll protect the NHS and we love the NHS. We'll nurture it and we'll make it stronger."
Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the Conservatives were "trying to play the public for fools".
"In these secret trade deal papers that Labour revealed yesterday, the NHS is very much on the table," he said.
"And it's crystal clear that the US is pushing for longer drug patents - which means massive drug price increases for our NHS.
"And on that basis, these papers show the UK is ready to move on to the next stage of a deal that will mean taxpayers will pay the price of soaring medical bills."
On Wednesday, Mr Corbyn said his party had obtained an unredacted version of a 451-page document which lays out the details of talks involving UK and US officials.
He said the papers contradict the prime minister's claim that the health service would not be a part of any trade talks with Washington.
In response, the Tories said Labour had misrepresented what the documents say and quoted sections out of context.
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