By Daniel Martin Policy Editor For The Daily Mail
Published: 23:28 BST, 2 June 2019 | Updated: 23:37 BST, 2 June 2019
View
comments
Claims by the US ambassador that America would want access to the NHS as part of any post-Brexit trade deal prompted a huge backlash last night.
MPs on both sides of the political spectrum criticised Woody Johnson after he said the 'entire economy' would have to be part of any trans-Atlantic free trade agreement.
Asked on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show if this included healthcare, he said: 'I would think so.'
Last night Tory leadership contenders joined with Labour in telling the Americans that 'the NHS is not for sale'.
Woody Johnson the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom appeared on The Andrew Marr Show today and said the 'whole economy' would be included in trade talks
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: 'My American friends, know this. The NHS is not for sale. 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.'
And Labour health spokesman Jonathan Ashworth said: 'The ambassador's comments are terrifying, and show that a real consequence of a No Deal Brexit, followed by a trade deal with Trump, will be our NHS up for sale.
'This absolutely should not be on the table. Nigel Farage and the Tories want to rip apart our publicly funded NHS. Labour will always defend it.'
Mr Johnson said the US was already looking at all the elements of a trade deal 'to get everything lined up so when the time comes'.
'We're going to have a great relationship with your country whatever happens,' he added.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock (left) and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth (right) both hit back at the
