Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 28 November 2019
Labour says U.K. health service 'for sale' in U.S. trade talks

By JILL LAWLESS and DANI- lim prejudice in Conserva-
CA KIRKA tive ranks.
Associated Press In a newspaper column last
LONDON (AP) — Britain's year, Johnson compared
health system became a women who wear face-
battleground in the coun- covering veils to "letter box-
try's election campaign on es."
Wednesday, as opposition Johnson said Wednesday
Labour Party leader Jere- he was sorry for any "hurt
my Corbyn accused Con- and offense that has been
servative Prime Minister Bo- caused" by Islamophobia
ris Johnson of secretly seek- in the party.
ing a post-Brexit trade deal Sayeeda Warsi, a former
with the United States that co-chairwoman of the
would drive up the cost of Conservative Party who
drugs and imperil the state- now sits in the House of
funded service. Lords, said Johnson's words
With the future of the Na- were "a good start." But she
tional Health Service a said the party had dragged
hot issue in campaign- its feet on confronting anti-
ing ahead of the Dec. 12 Muslim prejudice.
general election, Corbyn "Indeed, we saw that when
waved 451 pages of docu- Boris made those crass
ments at a press confer- comments around Muslim
ence declaring that they women wearing the niqab,
covered six rounds of ne- that many Muslim women,
gotiations between U.S. visibly Muslim women, were
and U.K. negotiators over subsequently attacked on
two years from July 2017. our streets," Warsi told the
The documents, which BBC.
have previously been pub- Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn poses with documents after his speech in London, Johnson hopes to secure
lished in redacted form, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, ahead of the general election on Dec. 12. a majority in the election
cover preliminary sound- Associated Press so he can get Parliament
ings ahead of formal trade to ratify the Brexit divorce
talks that are set to begin it is endlessly repeated by that happened in talks on a the U.S. trade representa- deal he negotiated last
once Britain leaves the Eu- the Labour Party, that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade tive made clear that a U.K. month with the EU. Under
ropean Union. NHS is somehow up for deal. commitment to the EU's the terms of that deal, the
Corbyn said the leaked sale," Johnson said. "Noth- Corbyn cited the drug customs union and single U.K. would leave the EU on
trade dossier provided ing could be further from Humira, which is used to market would make a U.K.- Jan. 31 but remain in the
proof Johnson was plan- the truth." treat a variety of ailments, U.S. free trade agreement European single market
ning to put the National Labour is campaigning including rheumatoid ar- "a non-starter." and the customs union until
Health Service "up for sale" heavily on the claim that thritis and Crohn's disease. Labour was struggling to the end of 2020.
in trade talks. the overstretched but trea- He said the NHS pays 1,409 push the focus of the elec- After Brexit, Britain and the
"He tried to cover it up in a sured NHS is not safe in pounds ($1,814) a packet, tion onto domestic issues EU will begin discussions
secret agenda and today Conservative hands. way lower than the equiv- and away from allegations on their future relationship.
it has been exposed," Cor- Though the claim that the alent price in the United that Corbyn — a longtime Johnson has insisted that
byn said. health service as a whole States of 8,115 pounds. champion of the Palestin- he will be able to secure
Johnson — who was not could be up for sale after "We are talking here about ians — has allowed anti- an agreement by the end
prime minister for most of Brexit is overstated, Labour secret talks for a deal with Jewish prejudice to fester in of 2020 — a timescale that
the period when the talks is hoping to tap into con- Donald Trump after Brexit. the left-of-center party. many trade experts find un-
took place — rejected the cerns that the Conserva- A deal that will shape our On Monday, Chief Rabbi realistic.
claim. tives will be looking for a country's future," he said. Ephraim Mirvis accused In a letter published in
"It is a total nonsense, and bigger role for the private The leaked documents Corbyn of allowing the the Daily Telegraph on
sector in the NHS's future. covered more than phar- "poison" of anti-Semitism to Wednesday, a dozen trade
The leaked documents do ma issues, offering insight take root in his party and experts accused U.K. poli-
bolster Labour's claim that into how the Trump ad- said "the very soul of our ticians of setting "arbitrary
health care could be a ministration saw post-Brexit nation is at stake" in the deadlines" and making un-
bargaining chip in U.S.-U.K. trade. Other discussions fo- Dec. 12 election. realistic promises about fu-
trade talks. At present, the cused on agriculture, chlo- Corbyn condemned anti- ture trade deals.
NHS can often negotiate rinated chicken and food Jewish prejudice and said The letter, whose signato-
low prices from drug com- labeling. he was rooting it out of the ries include Alan Winters of
panies because it is so big. The documents also sug- party — but declined four the U.K. Trade Observatory
In future negotiations the gested that a post-Brexit times during a BBC televi- and David Tinline, a former
U.S. could try to demand deal between the U.K. sion interview Tuesday to senior adviser to the World
during trade talks that Brit- and the EU that kept Brit- apologize to British Jews. Trade Organization's direc-
ain pay American pharma ain closely aligned with the While Johnson says Cor- tor-general, said that "if the
firms more for drugs. It could European economy would byn's record on anti-Semi- U.K. wants to benefit from
also push for extended pat- come at the cost of a spe- tism makes him unfit to lead high quality trade deals
ents that would prevent cial free trade agreement the country, the prime min- and to lead on the global
Britons buying cheaper ge- with the United States. ister has been accused of stage, a major shift in ap-
neric versions of U.S.-pat- According to the docu- making racist remarks and proach is required. It's time
ented drugs — something ments revealed by Corbyn, of failing to check anti-Mus- to get serious."q