The NHS could be put at risk by a quick trade deal with Trump.





Theresa May’s long-awaited speech on Brexit made one thing very clear -- her commitment to striking a trade deal with the US as quickly as possible. And she's off to meet the new President Trump tomorrow .





But rushing to cement a deal with Trump in a bid to prove the government’s Brexit strategy a success could put our NHS services at risk of being run by US corporations.





Theresa May: guarantee that the NHS will not be carved up by US corporations.





Desperate to show that the UK can strike trade deals outside the EU quickly, Theresa May is likely to bow to Mr Trump’s terms. And at the moment it looks like everything is up for grabs.





And it’s no secret that the UK government is already handing over an increasing proportion of the NHS budget to private firms. A Trump-May trade deal carries the real risk we’d see that explode.





If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve been here before. TTIP - a proposed trade deal between the US and EU now on ice - was considered by a leading lawyer to carry a ‘real and serious risk’ to the NHS. But people power worked then, and David Cameron was forced into a climbdown to protect the NHS under the toxic trade deal.





A new US-UK trade deal could be every bit as bad for the NHS as TTIP threatened to be. And now we are facing a US president whose criticism of the Obama administration’s healthcare reforms include that it resulted in ‘less competition and fewer choices’. His solution? ‘Free market reforms’. We all know what that means.





Theresa May: keep the NHS protected from any trade deal with the US.







The Supreme Court has ruled that parliament must vote on triggering Article 50 - which signals the start of the UK's exit from the EU. So the government is busy writing a bill to be debated by MPs next week.

This is the start of a long process, and May will be keen to prove that Britain can go it alone as a 'great, global trading nation'. Let's make sure our public services aren't sacrificed to corporations in the process





We need to protect our NHS from further privatisation that a hastily sealed trade deal with the US could bring. And we need to act fast.





Theresa May: guarantee that the NHS will be protected from any trade deal with the US.





SumOfUs members have got a great track record when it comes to standing up to dangerous trade deals that put corporate profits first. We were a vital part of a huge, three-year worldwide push that stopped TTIP in its tracks, and we’re still fighting hard to keep CETA at bay.





Now it’s time to stand up for our values and protect our vital public services from dangerous post-Brexit trade deals.

More information

Theresa May refuses to rule out private US firms taking over NHS services

The Independent. 25 January 2017. The Independent. 25 January 2017.

TTIP and the NHS

FullFact. 20 May 2016. FullFact. 20 May 2016.

May and Trump to focus on trade and terrorism (paywall)

Financial Times. 25 January 2017. Financial Times. 25 January 2017.