In 2017, the US/EU trade deal called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was signed by Washington and the unelected leaders of the 28 nation European Commission. David Cameron signed Britain up without public debate. The Conservatives won the 2020 general election gaining an even bigger majority, empowering the right-wing party even further but there is likely to be a landslide win for the opposition now that we are just weeks away from the 2025 general election.
More recently, public protest has gained considerable strength in the light of the national health services crisis. In the backdrop of a once proud, efficient and effective NHS, activists have moved from non-violent protest to hostile stand-offs with the police in what is now only perceived by the public as an American corporate pillaging of state owned assets.
Back in 2014-16, British trade unions and activists launched nationwide campaigns to raise awareness against the “dangers” of the planned TTIP agreement for the public health sector.
Doctors in the United Kingdom warned that the passage of TTIP would mean certain death for the country’s public healthcare system, opening the door for privatization and lawsuits from the United States’ for-profit medical industry.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Liverpool, Dr. Henry McKee of Belfast warned members that “if there is anything resembling a National Health Service by the time this treaty is signed, it won’t survive this treaty.”
“The correct motion is to kill this treaty dead, not to tolerate it sneaking in and mugging us,” he added. How right Dr McKee was and “mug us” it did.