Yesterday's vote on the NHS shows the clear dividing line in Parliament between those that want to end privatisation and repeal the widely-criticised Health and Social Care Act 2012, and those who will dogmatically defend the right of businesses to make a profit from health care.

That the Conservatives voted against Labour's motion to protect our NHS, along with the DUP, will surprise very few; that the Liberal Democrats shamefully abstained will be a wake-up call for many.

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Last week Jonathan Ashworth MP the Shadow Secretary of State for Health & Social Care tabled an amendment to the Queen's Speech on the NHS. It was a strong indictment of Johnson's Queen's Speech which was seen by many as nothing more than crass electioneering on the part of Boris Johnson, who's record on the NHS is nothing short of abysmal.

The amendment was as follows:

[Government wording followed by] ‘… but respectfully regrets that the Gracious Speech does not repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to restore a publicly provided and administered National Health Service and protect it from future trade agreements that would allow private companies competing for services who put profit before public health and that could restrict policy decisions taken in the public interest.

You can read more about the background to the amendment and Keep Our NHS Public's response to it here.

The original debate was timetabled for Monday afternoon. However due to Saturday’s debate on Johnson’s botched Brexit deal, a further Brexit debate was scheduled for Monday, leading to the postponement of the planned debate on the Health section of the Queen's speech. By the time it was debated yesterday, Wednesday 23 October, the amendment was being called instead, a 'motion of regret'.

Here you can watch Ashworth speaking for the motion in the House of Commons: