Our NHS is 'under threat' from commercial interests: Society seconds TUC motion

Published: 05 September 2019 Government & NHS

The TUC Congress will be urged to reassert its policy that “we reject a vision of free trade” that “offers up public services like the NHS to rapacious multinational companies.”

A motion proposed by the British Dietetic Association (BDA) and seconded by the SoR, will call on the General Council to demand that the NHS is specifically excluded from future trade deals.

The BDA motion says that "Congress is alarmed that during his visit to the UK in June, President Trump asserted that the NHS would be 'on the table' in any future trade deals with the US 'or a lot more than that'. Even though he appears to have backtracked on his statement with the government's decision to prorogue parliament, there remains very real concern over what exactly any future trade negotiations with the US would mean for the NHS.

"Congress notes that it has been British governments that opened up the NHS to EU competition laws, leaving our health service more exposed to private intervention than any other EU country.

“To keep our NHS public, we need a government committed to doing just that,” the motion says.

The 2019 TUC Congress is in Brighton from this Sunday, 8 September and closes on Wednesday, the 11th.

Motion 15 The NHS and future trade deals
Congress is deeply concerned that our NHS is under threat from commercial interests on both sides of the Atlantic.

Furthermore, Congress is alarmed that during his visit to the UK in June, President Trump asserted that the NHS would be “on the table” in any future trade deals with the US “or a lot more than that”. Even though he appears to have backtracked on his statement, there remains concern over what exactly any future trade negotiations with the US would mean for the NHS.

Congress notes that it has been British governments that opened up the NHS to EU competition laws, leaving our health service more exposed to private intervention than any other EU country.

Our NHS is never safe during a Tory government whoever is prime minister. To keep our NHS public, we need a government committed to doing just that.

Therefore, Congress reasserts its policy that “we reject a vision of free trade” that “offers up public services like the NHS to rapacious multinational companies.”
British Dietetic Association