‘NHS not for sale!’: Trump provokes UK anger after saying health service ‘on the table’ post-Brexit

Donald Trump has incurred the wrath of the British public, including high-profile figures such as Jeremy Corbyn, after revealing that access to the NHS will be up for grabs in any post-Brexit trade deal agreed with the UK.

During a joint press conference with PM Theresa May in London on Tuesday, the US president was asked by a reporter whether Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) should be part of any trade deal negotiations following the UK’s exit from the EU. Trump was unambiguous in his answer.

When you’re dealing with trade, everything is on the table. So, NHS or anything else. There are a lot more than that. So everything will be on the table. Absolutely.

His comments have provoked anger on social media, including from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had earlier slammed Trump’s behaviour during an anti-Trump protest in Westminster.

The UK opposition leader tweeted that both Tory leader May, and a string of contenders to succeed her as prime minister, are lining up to implement “disaster capitalism” made possible by a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, with America’s Trump lying in the wings to profit.

In what appeared to be a veiled threat to Trump, Corbyn warned: “Our NHS is not for sale.”

Others suggested that the POTUS’s remarks may put an end to the prospect of Brexit ever happening and reinforced the argument for the UK to remain in the EU. One Twitter user claimed: “The NHS is to Brits what the 2nd amendment is to Americans.”

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock also responded to the comments, tweeting: "The NHS isn’t on the table in trade talks – and never will be. Not on my watch.”

Trump completes his three-day state visit on Wednesday when he travels down to Portsmouth on the south coast to join other world leaders to mark the anniversary of D-Day.

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