Omit the NHS from any future trade deal with the US
This petition gathered 111,079 signatures between 11 May 2020 and 11 November 2020, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 23 June 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 16 November 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Omit the NHS from any future trade deal with the US
As the Coronavirus escalates, there are concerns that a trade deal between the UK Government and the US deal might not exempt our NHS, leaving it vulnerable to privatisation and in direct contradiction to promises this would not happen.
It is very important to the people of the UK that the NHS is a public institution without private business interests. The pressure from the public led Johnson to promise the NHS would be protected from trade deals; putting a deal through quietly during the Coronavirus crisis would be unethical and lack transparency.
Given that Trump recently made a bid to make a German Coronavirus vaccine US-only, (which could prolong the crisis) involving the US financially in our medical system could be a direct health risk to us.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 23 June 2020. Its summary:
The government has been clear that protecting the UK’s right to regulate in the public interest and protecting public services, including the NHS, is of the upmost importance.
The response in full:
As set out in our negotiating objectives for a UK-US Free Trade Agreement, published on 2nd March, when we are negotiating trade deals, the NHS will not be on the table. The price the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table. The services the NHS provides will not be on the table. We will not make changes to our intellectual property regime that would lead to increased medicines prices for the NHS.
The UK’s negotiating positions have been made clear to all of our trade partners, including by the Secretary of State for International Trade in her Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament of 18th May. The government will continue to ensure that decisions on how to run public services are made by UK governments, including the Devolved Administrations, and not by any foreign government.
In all cases, we will continue to protect the right to regulate public services, including the NHS, in the national interest.
Department for International Trade
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 903, came from Bristol West.
109,793 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,286 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Bristol West | 903 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 800 |
| Hove | 579 |
| Sheffield Central | 521 |
| Lewisham, Deptford | 479 |
| Bristol East | 475 |
| Manchester, Withington | 468 |
| Edinburgh North and Leith | 460 |
| Hornsey and Wood Green | 457 |
| Norwich South | 441 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 15,710 |
| London | 14,774 |
| South West | 12,642 |
| North West | 12,089 |
| Scotland | 9,843 |
| East of England | 9,700 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 8,323 |
| Wales | 6,922 |
| East Midlands | 6,895 |
| West Midlands | 6,316 |
| North East | 3,778 |
| Northern Ireland | 730 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 16 November 2020. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/307339.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
c7b6c0b50ecd387c… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.