Trade deal vote 'nothing more than party political games' says MP Ben Bradley
It has been widely reported that Conservative MPs, including our own MP for Mansfield, Ben Bradley, voted against an amendment to our existing Trade Bill to ensure the NHS is not sold off in future trade deals.
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.”