Our NHS needs every vote tomorrow

Dear
John
,

15,000 of you have written to your MPs, calling on them to vote for Conservative Jonathan Djanogly MP's amendment to the Trade Bill tomorrow in parliament, to stand up for basic democracy and our NHS.

Thank you to everyone who's written so far - you're brilliant!

If you haven't written your email yet - please take 2 minutes and do it now. We need you to protect our NHS from Trump and US healthcare companies. The deadline is first thing tomorrow and this template makes it easy!
Email your MP now ([link removed])
If your MP is a Conservative who has replied to you talking about the trade bill being a ‘continuity bill’ – PLEASE TAKE 2 MINUTES TO WRITE BACK TO THEM using the easy template email below* (don't forget to change their name, add your name and adapt it if you want to). We suggest writing back to their email directly or using [link removed]

If your MP is already on board with the amendment – fantastic!
Please spread the word by sharing this blog explaining the key arguments on facebook ([link removed]) , twitter ([link removed]) or send the link to the blog ([link removed]) by email to your friends and family.

If your MP hasn't replied to you, please contact them again! ([link removed]) We've adapted the action template to include the arguments we're expecting back from them.

Don’t let your MP get away with excuses. If they’ve written to you, write back to them. It’s their job to hold the government to account. It’s your right to hold them to account.

This government has promised to ‘take back control’ yet many of your MPs are telling you they don't need the powers to scrutinise or vote for trade deals. They're wrong. Of course MPs need to be able to hold the government to account for trade deals. They can’t protect our NHS from Trump and US healthcare companies unless they have basic powers of scrutiny.

The moment is now, the vote is tomorrow. 11 Conservatives are already on side. Let's do everything we can to persuade 33 Conservative MPs to do the right thing.
Your MP needs to hear from YOU now ([link removed])
We need all opposition MPs to vote for the amendment too. And if you're in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, this Trade Bill would ride roughshod over your devolved administration so it's vital to stand up for democracy.

In 24 hours MPs will be debating this! Thank you for taking the time to persuade your MP at this extremely crucial time.

Cat, Ellen, Pascale, Chris and Alice - the We Own It team

PS Lots of Conservative MPs are now making excuses about why they won't support the amendment.
*Here is a TEMPLATE REPLY TO YOUR CONSERVATIVE MP* (add their name and yours before sending!):

Dear xxxx MP

Thank you for explaining your position. I am writing to ask you to consider this issue again.

If you deny yourself of your powers of democratic scrutiny, you also take away MY powers as your constituent to have any say – through your representation of me - over what happens next.
This is the opposite of taking back control. It is not what I voted for.

I would like you to stand up for
* Sovereignty over our future as a nation
* Active safeguarding and protection of our NHS
* Scrutiny and democratic powers for MPs


** 1) Sovereignty
------------------------------------------------------------

The Trade Bill is NOT, as some are trying to argue, a “continuity bill”. There is nothing "continuous" about Brexit. We are in new territory and we should be actually taking back control, not giving it away, for the sake of ourselves and the future of this country.

Some MPs are claiming that existing EU commitments are being replicated and the Trade Bill is business as normal. This is not reassuring.

Firstly, the new draft Free Trade Agreement with the EU, published in May this year, does not include protection for the NHS ([link removed]) .

Secondly, what about future agreements? The Trade Bill is the only legislation that covers the UK’s approach to trade deals. This bill is the only chance available for MPs and their constituents to have democratic control over the content of future trade agreements. Amendments were added to previous versions of the same Bill (in the last parliament) which did cover new trade agreements – the same could be done here to guarantee our democratic scrutiny.

Finally, it’s worth noting that EU member states have democratic powers to approve EU trade bills that MPs are not giving themselves in the UK parliament. Why do we in the UK not give ourselves the same level of democracy as in the EU?


** 2) Protection for our NHS from Trump
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We need MPs to give themselves the powers of scrutiny so they can *guarantee* protection for our NHS as negotiations progress. Otherwise there will be nothing they can do to safeguard the future of our NHS in trade deals, after everything that nurses and doctors have done for us all in this pandemic.

84% of us want our NHS in public hands. 1.2 million have signed the petition asking for our NHS to be protected from a Trump trade deal.

Trump believes healthcare should be run by private companies and he initially said the NHS would be ‘on the table’ in trade deals before rowing back.

The US has more negotiating clout than us. ([link removed]) Its economy is six times larger than the UK’s, and 13% of the UK’s exports are to the US, compared to only 3% of US exports to the UK. Meanwhile the US has some of the best-developed negotiating capacity in the world, having concluded 12 bilateral trade agreements and one multilateral agreement since 2000. The UK, on the other hand, is building its trade capacity for the first time in over 40 years, while attempting to forge its future relationship with the EU at the same time.

Safeguarding health is legally extremely complicated. If MPs are determined to keep the NHS safe they must give themselves powers to safeguard our health services in trade deals, powers to hold our government to account for negotiations with Trump and with other countries too.


** 3) Democracy and scrutiny
------------------------------------------------------------

We live in a democracy – there should be a presumption of transparency – with MPs, civil society and the public having the right to input. “Public consultations”, “open briefings” and “updates for MPs and peers” are not enough when it comes to crucial trade bills that determine the future of our grandchildren.

Right now, government can negotiate trade agreements in secret, without transparency, public oversight or a vote in parliament. There is no guarantee of debate and it is not clear how MPs could raise objections. It is not technically possible for parliament to outright reject a trade agreement if the government wishes to persist. There is no role for the devolved administrations in scrutiny of trade agreements. While trade policy itself is reserved, many areas of policy that trade deals may impact on are devolved, for example: health, environment, food, farming, public procurement and the provision of public services.

We call on our democratically elected MPs to reform the Trade Bill to guarantee the right of parliament to set a thorough mandate to govern each trade negotiation, with a remit for the devolved administrations; the right of the public to be consulted as part of setting that mandate; the presumption of transparency in negotiations; the right of parliament to amend and to reject trade deals, with full debates and scrutiny guaranteed and a remit for the devolved administrations; and the right of parliament to review trade deals and withdraw from them in a timely manner.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this urgent matter.
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