Matt Hancock the health secretary rebuffed Woody Johnson the US ambassador to the UKs suggesting the NHS could be on the table for post Brexit trade talks.
Johnson said he expects that “entire economy” to include the NHS to be part of a future deal, Hancock told him that the NHS “is not for sale.”
In a tweet Hancock said, “Yes we’d love to make it cheaper to buy your life-saving pharmaceuticals – but the NHS will not be on the table in any future trade talks.”
Andrew Marr asked Johnson about fears a trade deal with the US would US pharmaceutical and medical corporations would gain a piece of the NHS.
Johnson told BBC One’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday, “Oh I don’t think they’d be put in any particular position regarding that.
“Your national healthcare service is the pride of the country. It’s a highly emotionally charged issue.”
When asked if healthcare will be part of the US trade deal, Johnson responded with, “I think probably the entire economy, in a trade deal all things that are traded will be on the table.”
Marr pressed the ambassador and asked if this includes healthcare and he said, “I would think so.”
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