TTIP and NHS

"Urgent: on Monday, MEPs will vote to change parts of the shady US/EU trade deal, TTIP. Almost unnoticed, a group of right-wingers from across Europe have put in an innocuous-looking amendment that would radically weaken any protections for our NHS. If this passes, private companies could argue that parts of our NHS are no longer publicly funded services. This means that private companies could run them forever. Don’t let them get away with it!

Can you write to your MEPs now and ask them to vote against this amendment.

Writing to our MEPs could make a big difference. None of them are part of the group that put this amendment forward, so they won't be under much pressure from their party. And most of them won’t be used to this level of attention from their constituents. So just imagine how it’ll feel to get suddenly flooded with emails! And this time, they can do what the public want, without upsetting their boss."

Copied from the email received.

I have sent emails to all six MEPs who represent this region. Two Conservatives, two Labour and two UKIP. Will be interesting to see who responds and how.

I do get emails from the local labour MEPs, vampire, but the UKIP one has yet to respond to anything I've sent. It does seem a bit weird, having a UKIP MEP. Is that an oxymoron?

I've had one reply to date and that was from one of the UKIP MEPs. He didn't tell me how he intended to vote on Monday but told me that UKIP is opposed to TTIP so I assume he will vote against the amendment.

He then asked me to vote against staying in Europe in the upcoming referendum.

Hmm will voting against TTIP encourage me to vote for a facist party led by a reactionary racist????? Not bloody likely!!!!

'a facist party led by a reactionary racist'?

Charming!

It's not meant to be a compliment.

You shouldn't believe him anyway, vampire.

leftfootforward.org/2015/04/dont-buy-ukips-hypocrisy-on-ttip/

The vote's today, by the way. Link at the top for anyone who wants to send a message to your MEP.

Seems like it's just me and you, durhamjen

Had an email from one of my MEPs today, to say that they are going to vote against if the Tory group try and keep in the threat to public services, which includes the NHS. I would think it would be better to have an amendment which specifically excludes public services.

I'm used to being in a minority, vampire!

I'm often in that club too

I have been trawling the net and cannot find anything about the debate. I suppose they could still be talking, or have cancelled the vote again as they knew they were going to lose.

Found it. They have voted to send it back to committee. That means they were worried about the opposition to it.
I expect our MEPs will let us know, vampire.

No response from the others yet.

At least it's not been passed as it stands.

We'll have to let each other know when we hear, vampire. Like you said, it's unusual having a thread to ourselves.
Even Ana only had one comment to make.

Give it a rest, durj.

Why 'give it a rest,' Ana?

Protecting the NHS should be important to all of us. We're so used to it that we take it for granted.

I have several friends who live abroad and find it very difficult to access medical help because they can't afford to pay for it. Imagine having arthritis in your knees and not being able to afford pain killers or diabetes and not being able to afford a regular supply of insulin.

There was a question on TTIP and the effect it would have on the NHS in parliament yesterday.

The response was that it would take too long to find out the information. Not really a response to the question, but expected that from the government spokesman.

I should read all my emails first, shouldn't I, vampire?

act.goingtowork.org.uk/page/m/1f11b3fb/3ab9ec2e/5460b555/54073efe/2988331593/VEsF/

Vote on 8th July.

Today's position.

www.labour4ne.org.uk/news_about_the_ttip_vote_in_the_european_parliament

I sent emails to my MEPs and again only the UKIP guy replied. Not a good reflection on the other MEPs.

www.google.com/url?q=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jul/05/private-health-lobbyist-nhs-privatisation-dalton-review&sa=U&ei=YmuZVY7oNMbaUcKhjqAM&ved=0CAgQFjAB&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNFBu7x4fuNCctI9-YE1eS04EZYCOQ

I know this is not about TTIP, but it shows how and why we are gradually losing our health service to private healthcare. It shows how TTIP can get under the radar.

Why are we only just finding out about it now?
Why did it need an FoI request?
We will lose our NHS to Dave and his cronies if we do not fight against the privatisation of the NHS.

"Within seconds, he segues into one of his current favourite topics. “I’ve just had an interesting discussion on the TTIP.” The what? “Ah, sorry – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This is a negotiation between the US and European Union to develop a way in which investment would be protected, and a way in which governments must not make life difficult for investors. The fear is that it’s a race to the bottom, with the lowest common denominator on both sides of the Atlantic becoming the norm. Hence a government that tries to enforce special conditions on a company, such as wage levels and working conditions, could then be threatened with legal action by a newly created trade court.” This is a good example of why many people believe it is important to have a candidate like Corbyn because it is unlikely we would hear much about the TTIP from the three other candidates (Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall) in the leadership race."

From an interview with Jeremy Corbyn. He knows about TTIP, vampire.

Debate on TTIP in the Commons on 9th, Thursday, vampire.

www.theyworkforyou.com/calendar/?d=2015-07-09#cal3929