I note a new campaign running nationally and locally about a perceived "threat" to the NHS under the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
As much as I am grateful for activists promoting my name widely in South Thanet, the threat is not there, and there is no risk whatsoever to the NHS under this or any other free trade deal and any decisions about more or less private involvement in UK health provision will remain solely in the hands of the UK Government. It is disappointing and disingenuous that some groups seek to use the NHS, one of our most cherished national institutions, as a political football for another agenda. The UK has many bilateral trade deals around the world, I wish it could independently negotiate many more. There have been no instances of corporate legal action, secret courts or anything else arising from these longstanding trade deals. What is currently being peddled is misinformation and the stoking up of fear for political ends.
I can assure you the Government is committed to an NHS that is there for everyone who needs it, funded from general taxation and free at the point of use. TTIP will not affect how the NHS decides who is best to provide its services.
Negotiators from the United States and the European Union have confirmed that it will continue to be for EU member states to make decisions about whether and to what extent they involve the private sector in the provision of public services. The EU's chief negotiator on TTIP has stated that EU countries will continue to be free to decide how they run their public health systems. A letter from the EU trade Commissioner, Celia Malstrom, to the former UK Trade Minister, Lord Livingston, confirming this is published here:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/july/tradoc_152665.pdf
Any investment provisions included in TTIP will strike the appropriate balance between protection for UK investors abroad, and ensuring the Government is not prevented from acting in the public interest in areas such as public health and the NHS.
This partnership would be the largest bilateral trade agreement in the world and would bring significant economic benefits in terms of jobs and growth, with the potential to deliver £10 billion to the UK economy each year.
I will be supporting TTIP and would actively support further international free trade deals which help to raise living standards in poorer nations, and bring significant benefits to UK consumers, UK businesses and the economy.