I TOO welcome the sentiment behind the NHS (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill (Letters, January 2), intended as it is to halt the creeping privatisation of the NHS.
However, let’s not get carried away: this is a private member's bill rather than a government initiative and so very unlikely to make it to the statute book.
Instead, the ConDem government has made its position clear by continuing the policy of its predecessors of allowing private companies to cherry-pick those public services from which they can make a quick buck, leaving the public sector to deal with the ‘difficult’ and therefore expensive cases: the worse possible deal for taxpayers.
Far more critically, in a move that has gone almost completely unreported by our media, all the other major parties are supporting the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and USA, the provisions of which allow unaccountable overseas multinationals to sue our government in offshore courts if government puts any obstacles in the way of their profit-making activity – including taking over public services such as the NHS, education and water services.
Our MP’s commitment to the NHS sits ill at ease with her support for the TTIP.
Julian D Roskams
Malvern Hills Green Party
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