Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if the Prime Minister will take steps to secure exclusion of the NHS from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership by way of a blanket exemption within the main text of that agreement.

Anna Soubry

The Government has always been clear that protecting the NHS is of the utmost importance for the UK. We believe, as does the European Commission, that provisions in the current texts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) achieve this protection.

Over several decades the UK and EU have signed numerous trade agreements. These treaties have helped both UK and EU businesses grow and create high quality jobs. They have also ensured that it remains for the UK to decide how our public services are run.

TTIP will be no different. Decisions on how to deliver public services for the best outcomes for UK citizens are and will be made by UK governments, not our trade partners. The Prime Minister, the European Commission and the US Government have all confirmed this. The NHS is not at risk from TTIP or any other trade and investment agreement.