Keep our NHS off Donald Trump’s trade table – The Yorkshire Post says

Jeremy Corbyn held a dramatic press conference in the run-up to the election revealing 451 pages of uncensored Government documents detailing preparatory meetings between UK and US officials which he claimed proved the NHS would be “on the table” in official talks.

But Mr Corbyn’s claims did not have the electoral impact he hoped and now the Department for International Trade has spelt out in its negotiating objectives for talks with America that the NHS will not be on the table, adding that the nation’s health service “never will be for sale to the private sector, whether overseas or domestic”.

This strong statement will undoubtedly be of considerable relief to people of all political persuasions who cherish our NHS, which is gearing up to face potentially one of its most serious challenges ever with the spread of coronavirus.

But as has been seen with the arduous negotiations around the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, the most important details are often in the fine print.

As the Nuffield Trust think-tank highlighted before the election, it has not been suggested that the American healthcare companies would end up owning British hospitals but the documents of the preparatory meetings did suggest the US hoped to get the NHS to pay more money to their pharmaceutical firms for the drugs that they sell.

Nevertheless, the Government’s publication of its detailed negotiating objectives – which also include maintaining this country’s high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards – now provides clarity on their aims in a way they can be held accountable for by voters should they not deliver.