Posted on 07/28/2019 10:12:21 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Britain’s trade minister Liz Truss has said the National Health Service (NHS) would not be put up for sale, as she prepares to discuss a free-trade deal with the U.S. in the next few weeks.
“My main priority now will be agreeing a free-trade deal with the U.S., building on the successful phone call between the Prime Minister and President Trump,” she wrote in a Telegraph column late on Sunday. …
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Who would want to buy it?
This is such ridiculous fear-mongering. That Communist Corbyn shouted this same nonsense out in Parliament—as if Americans would actually want to buy their sketchy NHS. Trump doesn’t want anything off the table in the trade deal, which could presumably include prescription drugs and medical equipment and things like that involved in actual “trade.” But these angry crazies on the left in Britain pretend we are threatening their beloved socialist health care system. What a joke.
“Who would want to buy it?”
no kidding ...
Thanks Olog-hai. After the US-UK trade deal here will be an employment boom in England and Wales, and maybe in N Ireland.
Nobody would want to buy it.
Didn’t Pres. Trump (jokingly) say that everything was on the table in a trade deal, even the NHS?
Trump isn’t interested in ‘buying’ the NHS, by which leftists assume would mean turning the British healthcare system into and American-style private insurance based system, private American firms would presumably be able to bid on NHS contracts on the same basis as UK private firms though, which is what the NHS has done for a very long time, healthcare will still be free at the point of delivery, which is the main point of the NHS. Who knows? It might even give the NHS better value for money if they have to compete with others for a better price.
NHS or Medicare For All!
IIRC, the NHS is the UK’s largest employer.
Explains a lot.
Essentially what the US wants is a level playing field to sell US pharmaceuticals. Right now NHS is a monopoly buyer, driving prices low. If this monopoly buyer is removed then the US industry can get better prices for their goods
Gas Turbines - mostly as part of the Western European supply chain, so these are parts (valuable yes, but through the WE supply chain and made by companies not based in the UK)
Cars / aircraft - again not completed cars but cars/aircraft part of the supply chain - see Vauxhall, Jaguar, etc. etc.
Packaged Medication - again, this would depend on the EU market and NHS prices. Is that goes, well
Crude petroleum -- yup, that's a potential growth
Gold - again, main destination as WIP for Belgium
Hard Liquor - Scotch ma man
Only 11% of current exports are to the USA and only 7.5% of imports are from the USA
The UK specializes in services - financial and otherwise. The USA has no need of those - it has the same in NYC. What can the UK offer to the USA that will bring this 'job boom in the UK"?
Yes. Any move to break up the NHS will end up with lots of not very useful (and some useful) folks unemployed.
I’ll take the NHS over medicare any day, having actually used the NHS for over 30 years and know that the negative press in reports in the Daily Mail etc that Americans read of highlights certain flaws and failures give a horrific picture of third world horrors that gives a twisted image of what the NHS in general is.
However, I don’t perceive any American threat to the NHS, nor are way trying to impose this on the American taxpayer so I don’t see why it somehow inhibit relations with the US.
Of course, if we unilaterally lowered tarrifs, we could get still get these parts cheaply, and if the EU seeks to punish the UK through some kind of economic blockade because of Brexit it is going to say a lot about the imperialist attitude of the EU towards its member states.
It probably won’t happen though, UK and US enjoyed good trade relations even from the begining following the War of Independence, there was too much money to be made on both sides from dropping any grudges and just getting on with buying and selling from each other, and this was in an age when countries had much more petulent and punitive relations with each other over perceived slights.
My ancestor left London in 1621 for Plymouth Rock, second ship there “The Fortune†and 15 generations later here I am. Sister had 23 and me and at least she is 2% Norse, 4% German and 94% British Isles, I assume we had the same father. As a former subject I would never disparage the NHS.
False dilemma to say one would take socialism over socialism any day, with all due respect.
National Health Service (NHS) kills over 100,000 people a year by denying care. Millions are miserable as they cannot get care needed for simple procedures.
More trade, more business. The French and Germans tried to browbeat Cameron years ago, regarding EU control of the banking center of London, and he quite wisely refused their demand, knowing what it would do to the economy and the sovereignty of the UK.
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