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City MP vows to continue to protect our NHS services from Tory privatisation plans

By 31 October 2019No Comments

The Conservative expansion of the internal market has led to one third of contracts being awarded to private providers since the Health and Social Care Act it has been found. Some of these contracts are vast and their failures have wasted millions of pounds of public money.

Concerned residents of Portsmouth have been contacting city MP Stephen Morgan over Tory plans. This follows a debate last week as part of the Queen’s Speech when the Conservatives voted against Labour’s motion to protect our NHS, along with the DUP and the Liberal Democrats shamefully abstained.

Mr Morgan, along with key agencies and hundreds of his constituents, have expressed deep concerns over the current Government’s plans to sell off vital NHS services.

Stephen Morgan MP said:

“It is clear that our NHS is not safe in the hands of a Tory government, especially one so keen on securing a quick free trade agreement with President Trump.

Warm words and promises that the NHS is not on the table when it comes to trade agreements is not sufficient, especially when a Tory government seeks to trade away our vital public services under the table”

This comes as the Tories and Trump want to lock-in privatisation into public services and erode the NHS’s power to negotiate affordable drug prices.

This along with the will to sell off access to the UK cache of patient data and to prevent future governments from taking policy decisions in the interest of public health over private profits has received great opposition from Labour.

The City MP said:

“The NHS, founded by Labour, should be a free at the point of delivery universal service for all. Its sole purpose should be the provision of healthcare. Successive Conservative Governments have flagrantly abandoned this principal by incessantly selling bits off to the highest bidder and pursuing a system of profit.

It came as no surprise then that the Tories voted against the Labour amendment that would safeguard NHS services and repeal the widely critics system of privatisation.

We need legally binding commitments and clearly defined negotiating mandates that ensure preservations and protections in all aspects of trade agreements, so our vital NHS services are safeguarded.”

Vital votes have taken place on ending privatisation and repealing the widely criticised 2012 Health and Social Care Act. The votes took place as part of the Queen’s Speech Debate and were a result of Labour adding an amendment that sought to put an end to further privatisation of the National Health Service.

Mr Morgan added:

“The Tories’ expansion of the internal market has led to one-third of contracts being awarded to private providers since the Health and Social Care Act. Some of these contracts are vast and their failures have wasted millions of pounds of public money.

The Lib Dems also flashed their true colours, by shying away from the vote and refusing to even take part the Lib Dems have sent a clear message that they put profit over people and would not be willing to stand up against NHS exploitation and privatisation.

We had the opportunity to put an end to this. Sadly the Lib Dems jumped straight back in with their old coalition partners”.

Stephen Morgan and Labour have repeatedly stood up for the NHS and sought to include legal protections in future trade agreements through a series of amendments to the Trade Bill as introduced in 2017.