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General election 2019: Opposition warning over post-Brexit US trade deal General election 2019: Trump wants 'nothing to do" with NHS in trade talks
(about 5 hours later)
Opposition leaders are using Donald Trump's visit to the UK to raise concerns about the terms of a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. Donald Trump has insisted the US wants "nothing to do" with the NHS in post-Brexit trade talks as he sought to repudiate opposition claims that the health service would be "up for sale".
Jeremy Corbyn said there would be "no deal" under a Labour government if the US insisted the NHS was included in trade talks, while the SNP reiterated its call for a "legal lock" to stop it. On a visit to the UK, the US President claimed he had no interest in increased market access to the NHS for US firms even if handed on a "silver platter".
Boris Johnson said he "categorically ruled out" the NHS being on the table. But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he still had "very serious concerns".
In a press conference, Mr Trump denied having any interest in the NHS. And the SNP said MPs should pass a law to exclude the NHS from discussions.
In June, the US president said it would form part of negotiations over a possible future trade deal, saying: "When you're dealing in trade, everything is on the table." Boris Johnson said the Conservative election manifesto had "categorically ruled out" any NHS services, or drug prices, being up for negotiation.
But speaking ahead of a Nato summit in the UK on Tuesday morning, he told reporters: "I don't even know where that rumour started. In June, the US president suggested the health service would form part of negotiations over a possible future trade deal after the UK leaves the EU, saying: "When you're dealing in trade, everything is on the table."
"If you handed [the NHS] to us on a silver platter, we wouldn't want to have anything to do with it." But speaking on Tuesday morning as he and other world leaders prepared for a summit to mark the 70th anniversary of Nato, he issued a different message.
The Liberal Democrats' foreign spokesman, Chuka Umunna, said Mr Trump's comments should be taken "with a lorry load of salt". "I don't even know where that rumour started," he told journalists. "We have absolutely nothing to do with it. If you handed it [the NHS] to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it."
He added: "Trump has repeatedly made clear in the past that everything including the NHS will be on the table in future negotiations. Mr Trump's visit comes at hugely sensitive time, with less than 10 days to go before the election - and with the issues of Brexit and the NHS having largely dominated the campaign so far.
"If Boris Johnson wins a majority he'll be so desperate for a trade deal with Donald Trump that he'll become his poodle." The US President insisted he would be "staying out" of the election. While he remained a "fan of Brexit" and thought Mr Johnson was "very capable", he said he would be prepared to "work with anybody" in No 10.
But Mr Johnson said: "I can categorically rule out any part of the NHS will be on the table in any trade negotiation... including pharmaceuticals." In October, he suggested Mr Corbyn would be "bad" for the UK and declined an offer to meet the Labour leader during his state visit.
He said it was "pure Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda triangle stuff", and it was only being raised by Labour "to distract from the fundamental issue at the heart of this election" of Brexit. Mr Corbyn has repeatedly claimed that the NHS would be "up for sale" if the Conservatives hold onto power. At a campaign event last week, the Labour leader showed an unredacted report that gave details of meetings between US and UK officials.
The Lib Dems are also seeking protections for British farmers.
The party's leader leader, Jo Swinson, is calling on Mr Johnson to use any discussions with Mr Trump to ensure UK farmers are not "undercut by low-standard imports from the US" after Brexit.
The US president arrived in the UK on Monday night for an event to mark the 70th anniversary of Nato.
The summit for the transatlantic military alliance comes at a crucial time in the general election campaign, with just over a week left until polling day on 12 December.
'Urgent clarity'
Mr Corbyn has repeatedly claimed that the NHS would be "up for sale" if the Conservatives win the election - something the Tory leader has dismissed as "nonsense".
The Conservative manifesto explicitly states that neither the price paid for drugs nor NHS services will be at stake in post-Brexit trade discussions with the US.
But the Labour leader has written to Donald Trump - who he could meet at a reception at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday - setting out his demands, saying: "The British public need urgent clarity that our NHS is genuinely off the table."
At a campaign event last week, the Labour leader showed an unredacted report that gave details of meetings between US and UK officials.
The document shows the US is interested in discussing drug pricing - mainly extending patents that stop cheaper generic medicines being used - and refers to the US policy of making "total market access" a starting point in any trade talks.The document shows the US is interested in discussing drug pricing - mainly extending patents that stop cheaper generic medicines being used - and refers to the US policy of making "total market access" a starting point in any trade talks.
In his letter, Mr Corbyn called on the president to exclude any references to pharmaceuticals from trade talks, drop the total market access demand, and to exclude patient data in any sharing deals. The Labour leader welcomed Mr Trump's latest comments but said he was far from reassured by them.
Such guarantees, he said, "would go a long way to reassuring the British public that the US government will not be seeking total market access to the UK public services... and that the US government accepts that our NHS is not for sale in any form". "I'm pleased that he's said that but, if that's the case why have these talks gone on for two years?" he told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show.
'Best interest of patients' "Why have they been kept secret? I think there is very very legitimate grounds for very very serious concern here."
Mr Raab disputed the claims from Labour, saying Mr Corbyn was only raising the issue as "he wants to talk about anything else other than the fact [Labour] have got no plan for Brexit and no plan for the economy". 'Load of salt'
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Raab ruled out any privatisation of the NHS "under the Conservatives' watch or this prime minister's watch". Mr Corbyn said if he was introduced to Mr Trump at a reception at Buckingham Palace later, which both are attending, he would impress on him how "precious" the NHS was to the British people and make clear a Labour government would discontinue trade talks if it was not excluded.
Asked whether the NHS would be involved in any trade talks, Mr Raab said: "The reality is those decisions will be made by the United Kingdom in the best interest of patients and consumers at heart." On a trip to Salisbury, the prime minister described the opposition's claims as "pure Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda triangle stuff".
Ahead of Mr Trump's press conference, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage called on the US president to challenge the "complete fib" that the Tories would "sell the NHS" to him in a trade deal. "I can categorically rule out any part of the NHS will be on the table in any trade negotiation... including pharmaceuticals."
He said Mr Trump should not endorse any candidate, but told BBC Breakfast: "Trump finds himself at the middle of this. He's been accused by the Labour Party of wanting to buy the National Health Service. And Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab suggested Labour was only raising the issue because it had "no plan for Brexit and no plan for the economy".
"It isn't true, I know it isn't true, and I think it would be wholly appropriate for him to say that." Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Raab ruled out any privatisation of the NHS "under the Conservatives' watch or this prime minister's watch". Trade decisions would be made by the next government "in the best interest of patients and consumers", he added.
The SNP has reiterated calls for an NHS Protection Bill to create a "legal lock" against the NHS being included in trade deals. The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, Chuka Umunna, said Mr Trump's comments should be taken "with a lorry load of salt".
The party's leader, and First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon warned that Scotland's NHS was also under threat from rising drug prices if health was part of a trade deal - despite health being a devolved issue. He added: "Trump has repeatedly made clear in the past that everything including the NHS will be on the table in future negotiations."
Speaking ahead of a visit to Perth, she said: "With the Tories desperate for a trade deal with the US, we simply cannot trust them not to put our NHS on the line by signing up to the bargain basement conditions demanded by Trump." And SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said its MPs would be pressing for legislation to ringfence the NHS from any involvement in a future deal.
'Low-standard risk' "I don't want the future of our NHS to be dependent on trusting the word of Boris Johnson or Donald Trump," she said at a campaign rally in Perth.
The Lib Dems have also raised concerns about post-Brexit trade deals with the US. "Let's have legislation that explicitly and in statute takes any risk of trade negotiations to the NHS away, and make absolutely clear that the NHS not just will not be on the table but could not be on the table in any trade negotiations."
Ms Swinson claims that the leaked documents from UK-US trade talks show American officials are pushing for Britain to allow greater use of chemicals in food production, such as chlorine-washing chicken and growth hormones in beef cattle. Nigel Farage called on the US president to challenge the "complete fib" that the Tories would "sell the NHS" to him in a trade deal.
She said: "Johnson's desperation for a post-Brexit trade deal with Donald Trump means UK farmers risk being undercut by low-standard imports from the US. "He has been accused by the Labour Party of wanting to buy the National Health Service," the Brexit Party leader told BBC Breakfast. "It isn't true, I know it isn't true, and I think it would be wholly appropriate for him to say that."
"Boris Johnson must give a guarantee that our farmers and world-leading food standards will not be sacrificed on the altar of a Trump trade deal."
Speaking on Monday to the BBC, Mr Corbyn said Mr Trump was welcome in the UK, adding: "I talk to anybody. The whole point of political life is the ability to engage with others particularly where you may not initially see eye to eye - but persuasion is possible."
Mr Trump declined a meeting with the Labour leader during his state visit to the UK in July. As recently as last month, he said that Mr Corbyn as PM would be "bad for your country".