‘Publish Donald Trump-Boris Johnson secret dirty deals’

By Bethany Rielly in Britain:

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Activists demand secret files on Johnson and Trump’s dirty dealings

SECRET files on PM Boris Johnson’s shady trade talks with US President Donald Trump must be published before the general election, activists are demanding.

Global Justice Now is calling on the government to disclose crucial documents on the US and Britain’s ongoing trade talks, which are believed to include NHS privatisation measures.

The group has requested access to the so-called Trump trade files multiple times, only to be sent heavily redacted versions that rendered their contents “meaningless”.

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said: “The government has gone to astonishing lengths to keep its plans for a Trump trade deal secret from the British public, and the absurd sight of page after page of blacked-out documents is a shocking display of their disregard for democratic accountability.

“Trade deals today are massive agreements that affect every aspect of our society, and it is unacceptable that Boris Johnson’s government refuses to tell the public what it’s putting on the table.”

US and British officials are believed to have held six meetings since the trade talks began in 2017.

Last month Channel 4’s Dispatches revealed that NHS drug prices have been discussed at all six meetings, prompting fears that medicine costs could soar under the deal.

Retired paediatrician and co-chairman of Keep Our NHS Public Dr Tony O’Sullivan said: “The potential damage for the NHS drugs bill alone could be a hike from £18 billion to £44bn per year.

“As long as commercial contracts are in control of 18 per cent of our clinical services, the US-UK trade deal regulations agreed to will inevitably protect private interests in the NHS now and in the future.”

TRUMP INVITES BORIS JOHNSON TO WHITE HOUSE Trump has reportedly invited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit him in the White House in the new year. Trump’s invitation was made after Johnson’s election win this month. Britain wants to strike a new trade deal with the United States after it leaves the European Union at the end of January. [Reuters]