Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham today accused the government of plans to “open up the NHS to private bidders across Europe”, after it was revealed that any NHS contract over £625,000 will now be put out to tender. The changes were put out on February 6th as MPs headed away from Westminster for the recent recess, and Burnham today attacked Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt – and promised to overturn the changes if Labour is in government after May. Here’s a flavour of what Burnham said in the Commons (from 38 Degrees organisation):

“Regulations were sneaked out the Friday before recess – the public procurement contracts regulations – requiring NHS contracts worth over €750,000 to be opened up to full EU competition.”

“If passed, these regulations will mean that almost every NHS contract will be forced to be advertised across the EU, shattering promises they made to protect the NHS from EU competition law and let doctors decide.

“Isn’t it now abundantly clear that they have forfeited the public’s trust on the NHS and that five more years of this government will lead to a huge acceleration in NHS privatisation?”

No wonder Burnham and other senior Labour figures keep on saying that “you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS”…

Further: Leaked documents published by the BBC show our NHS hasn’t been taken out of TTIP. [1]

Unless our health services are totally excluded from TTIP – the nasty trade deal between the EU and US – there’s a huge risk of further privatisation. American corporations are ready and waiting to swoop in and make profits from our NHS. [2]

38 Degrees members across England are coming together to demand the NHS is taken out of TTIP. They are collecting signatures for a local petitions, such as the one in Blaydon-on-Tyne (When: 11:00 AM, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015: Where: Co-op, Blaydon Shopping Centre – this writer’s home town – calling on all politicians to ‘Save our NHS’.

This government is doing its best to rip up our NHS and sell it off, piece by piece. They’ve assured us time and time again that our NHS won’t be touched by TTIP. But yesterday’s leaked document tells otherwise. [3]

NOTES:

[1] BBC: TTIP: Transatlantic trade deal text leaked to BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-31631461

2] Open Democracy: On TTIP and the NHS, they are trying to bamboozle us:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/john-hilary/on-ttip-and-nhs-they-are-trying-to-bamboozle-us

[3] John Hilary, the Executive Director of War on Want, has written a blog for 38 Degrees members explaining why we’re right to be worried about our NHS in TTIP:
http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2015/02/27/ttip-leaked-text-analysis-by-john-hilary-war-on-want/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-31631461