Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
The NHS is a gleaming beacon of human achievement — we must protect it
With Parliament rising for the belated summer recess, the Conservative government’s final act of term has left a dangerous cloud over those of us who fear for the future of our NHS, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE MP

THE Tories have repeatedly asked the public to simply trust, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, their promise that the NHS is “not for sale” in any future trade deals with the US. During the 2019 General Election, Labour obtained proof that the NHS was ‘on the table’ in secretive talks between Britain’s negotiators and US representatives.

Yet rather than take these worrying claims seriously, much of the media instead chose to allege that Labour was somehow colluding with Russian attempts to interfere with British democracy — an outrageously false distraction that must have left Number 10 spin doctors rubbing their hands in glee.

Last week provided the government with an opportunity to put these fears to bed, as Labour tabled an amendment to its post-Brexit Trade Bill explicitly stating that the NHS would be excluded from any future trade agreements. This was supported by more than 400 doctors and health professionals. Yet, rather than deliver on their promise, not a single Tory MP voted for the amendment — which was defeated by 89 votes.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
HEAVY-HANDED: Cops arrest a peaceful protester at Parliament Square last weekend
Features / 10 September 2025
10 September 2025

The Met Police arrested a staggering 890 people, many elderly, disabled, and even blind in a single demonstration — all to back up the government’s unhinged campaign against non-violent civil disobedience at the behest of Israel, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Palestinians walk on an area at a makeshift tent camp located next to buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations, in Gaza City, August 23, 2025
Features / 26 August 2025
26 August 2025

CLAUDIA WEBBE says a UN agency’s finding that Gaza’s famine, killing up to 400 people a day, is entirely man-made must prompt a renewed revolt against our government’s complicity in this horror

Diane Abbott speaking at the People's Assembly Against Austerity protest in central London. Picture date: Saturday June 7, 2025
Labour Party / 31 July 2025
31 July 2025

Starmer’s decision to suspend Diane Abbott yet again demonstrates a determination to maintain and propagate a hierarchy of racism, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, July 2, 2025
Features / 15 July 2025
15 July 2025

The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Similar stories
Wes Streeting gives a speech at the Fabian Society
Features / 10 February 2025
10 February 2025
The Labour Party, once the proud architect of our health service, has become its undertaker, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the Confederati
Features / 14 January 2025
14 January 2025
Instead of responding to changed circumstances by adjusting policy, Reeves is using fiscal ‘rules’ as an excuse to force government departments to make even deeper cuts than she had already flagged, says CLAUDIA WEBBE
PAWNING BRITAIN: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with Black
Features / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
Keir Starmer’s BlackRock enthusiasm is a clear give-away for Tory continuity plans, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
UNFAIRLY TARGETED: A support group protests before the publi
Features / 19 November 2024
19 November 2024
The Stafford Hospital scandal’s false mortality statistics led to devastating service cuts despite evidence disproving the whole debacle, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE, warning of similar threats under Labour’s new plans for league tables