Trade deal vote 'nothing more than party political games' says MP Ben Bradley

Labour had proposed an addition to the Trade Bill which would ban any deal between two nations which "undermines or restricts" our public-funded health service or the ability "to maintain the quality and safety of health or care services".

The Trade Bill has now been cleared without Labour’s amendment going ahead, with MPs voting 340 against 251 to deny the amendment being made, causing many to question the vote.

Ben Bradley took to social media to explain, calling the Labour move ‘nothing more than party political games’ and that the amendment was nothing to do with any intention by his party to ‘sell off the NHS’.

He said: “It’s total nonsense.

"Those amendments wouldn’t have prevented the sale of the NHS, which we're not planning anyway, the bill was simply to roll over existing EU trade agreements.

“What they are trying to do is take the power over trade negotiations away from government and give it to parliament.

"It’s a power grab.”

Social media users then went on to question why, if the NHS was never going to be part of any future deal, the amendment could not be voted in to appease worried constituents.

Ben explained: “It’s not just a vote, it’s creating a law that is wrong.

"It would be a dereliction of our duty, to make a bad law just to save face.”

READ MORE

Unitary council plans would be a ‘disaster’ for Mansfield

Mansfield MP says one council for the whole county is the best option for our future

Weekly council reports will show COVID-19 hotspots in Nottinghamshire

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor