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Right-wingers have been slammed after publicly plotting to open up the NHS to competition from US firms after Brexit.

The idea is included in a 239-page report by the Initiative for Free Trade - a think tank backed by hard Brexiteers and launched by Boris Johnson in the Foreign Office map room.

Spelling out an 'ideal' trade deal between the US and UK, the report says there should be "zero restrictions on competition for government procurement".

An executive summary of the report explains: "Health services are an area where both sides would benefit from openness to foreign competition, although we recognize any changes to existing regulations will be extremely controversial.

"Perhaps, then, for other areas the initial focus should be on other fields such as education or legal services, where negotiators can test the waters and see what is possible.

(Image: Dan Kitwood)

"That said, we would envisage a swift, time-tabled implementation of recognition across all areas within 5 years."

It adds import restrictions that are based on "unsubstantiated public health and safety concerns" should be dropped - leading to fears chlorine-washed chicken could be imported.

Labour MP Peter Kyle, of the anti- Brexit People’s Vote campaign, said: “This is the real agenda of the Brexit elite, in black and white.

"They want to use Brexit as an excuse to slash and burn the protections and standards we value so highly, and to chop up and sell off our NHS to the highest bidder."

The report also recommends free movement of workers between the UK and the US, if they have a confirmed job to go to.

The IFT was launched last year as the Institute for Free Trade, but dropped 'institute' from its name after a dispute with Companies House.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Boris Johnson controversially waived a £6,000 fee - against the advice of Whitehall ethics chiefs - for the think tank to host its boozy launch party on government property.

Tory International Trade Secretary Liam Fox spoke at the launch.

The report was partly authored by Tory MEP Daniel Hannan, and Shanker Singham, who shot to prominence after enjoying a string of private meetings with British government ministers.

The report has the support of right-wing British think tanks the Adam Smith Institute and Institute for Economic Affairs.

And it was published in collaboration with the Cato Institute, a US libertarian think tank with long-time links to the arch-Conservative, billionaire Koch family.