Omit the NHS from any future trade deal with the US

As the Coronavirus escalates, there are concerns that a trade deal between the UK Government and the US deal might not exempt our NHS, leaving it vulnerable to privatisation and in direct contradiction to promises this would not happen.

It is very important to the people of the UK that the NHS is a public institution without private business interests. The pressure from the public led Johnson to promise the NHS would be protected from trade deals; putting a deal through quietly during the Coronavirus crisis would be unethical and lack transparency. Given that Trump recently made a bid to make a German Coronavirus vaccine US-only, (which could prolong the crisis) involving the US financially in our medical system could be a direct health risk to us.

As set out in our negotiating objectives for a UK-US Free Trade Agreement, published on 2nd March, when we are negotiating trade deals, the NHS will not be on the table. The price the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table. The services the NHS provides will not be on the table. We will not make changes to our intellectual property regime that would lead to increased medicines prices for the NHS.

The UK’s negotiating positions have been made clear to all of our trade partners, including by the Secretary of State for International Trade in her Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament of 18th May. The government will continue to ensure that decisions on how to run public services are made by UK governments, including the Devolved Administrations, and not by any foreign government.

In all cases, we will continue to protect the right to regulate public services, including the NHS, in the national interest.

Department for International Trade