Government and local MP condemned for voting against NHS trade protections.
In a vote on Tuesday evening, Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell and fellow Conservative MP’s voted against an amendment to the government’s trade bill to prevent the NHS being sold off or undermined by the government’s trade deals with other countries.
US officials and businesses have repeatedly said that the NHS must be “on the table” in trade talks, with US pharmaceutical companies and healthcare businesses eyeing the UK health market as a source of profit.
Councillor Iain Mooney, Barrow Borough Council Health Lead and NHS nurse commented that: “This is very worrying. I’m angry and disappointed that our local MP voted against protecting the NHS again. “We have already seen a mass sell off of services over the last 10 years, with up to £60 billion of contracts handed to private companies in just the last 3 years. “At a time when our NHS and those working within it, including myself and my colleagues, are facing incredible pressures, this is a huge smack in the face.”
