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Jul 2020

Last Updated: 21/07/2020

Politics

District's MPs vote against protecting NHS in trade deal

by Thomas Barrett

| 21 Jul, 2020

Andrew Jones and Julian Smith both voted against protecting the NHS from any future trade deal with the United States or other country.

Harrogate MP, Andrew Jones, has reportedly called for Mr Cummings to step down. But Julian Smith, MP for Ripon, has yet to comment.

Andrew Jones and Julian Smith both voted against protecting the NHS from any future trade deal with the United States or other country.

Last night's amendment to the Trade Bill, which failed by 251 votes to 340, also included a provision to ensure the NHS principle of being "free at the point of delivery" was not compromised by any future trade deal.

The Trade Bill lays out what trading relationship UK will have with other countries post-Brexit. The amendment was submitted by Green MP Caroline Lucas and was backed by Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer.

Included in the failed amendment were attempts to protect NHS staff from having their wages or rights cut as the result of a trade deal, protections around the pricing of medicines, and stopping confidential patient data being sold off to private companies.

Trade minister Greg Hands told the Commons that the NHS "remains protected and will never be on the table at any trade deal".

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The campaign group We Own It said the MPs who voted against the amendment have "handed the NHS to Donald Trump on a silver platter".

During the 2019 General Election, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn produced a leaked document which claimed that the NHS was 'on the table' in future trade talks with the United States. This was denied by prime minister Boris Johnson.

When he visited the UK in June 2019, President Trump said that the NHS could form part of trade negotiations between the two countries.

Earlier this week, Andrew Jones, the Harrogate & Knaresborough MP, praised the new rainbow tribute in Harrogate to key workers.

The Stray Ferret contacted both Andrew Jones and Julian Smith to ask why they voted against the amendment last night but neither had responded at the time of publication.