What Labour’s dossier reveals about the NHS in a post-Brexit trade deal
Jeremy Corbyn claims US-UK talks show NHS would be ‘up for sale’ under Tories

Labour says it has evidence that the NHS would be “up for sale” if Boris Johnson wins the December general election.
Jeremy Corbyn has produced a 451-page dossier at a press conference in London showing, he says, that initial talks with the US have already taken place on drug prices and the NHS.
The Labour leader claims the unredacted papers reveal that the US wants “total market access” to the NHS after the UK leaves the EU.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What do the documents show?
They detail six rounds of talks between US and UK officials in Washington and London between July 2017 and July 2019. They show that the US is interested in discussing NHS drug pricing, in particular, extending patents to stop cheaper generic medicines being used.
The US currently pays around two-and-a-half times more for drugs than the UK, says the BBC.
One of the documents quotes a UK official saying the talks are useful for determining the areas the US would want to discuss in trade talks between the countries.
The BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg says: “It’s clear US drug companies want access to UK markets – Labour suggests the UK has agreed they could extend the patents on some medicines, which could cost the NHS more.”
Corbyn highlighted a passage in the documents that indicated the US would prefer a no-deal Brexit. “There would be all to play for in a no-deal situation but UK commitment to the customs union and single market would make a US-UK [free trade agreement] a non-starter,” the document says.
What has Labour said?
Corbyn claims that the uncensored documents leave Boris Johnson’s denials in “absolute tatters”.
“We have now got evidence that under Boris Johnson the NHS is on the table and will be up for sale. He tried to cover it up in a secret agenda and today it has been exposed,” he said.
The Labour leader called it “a plot against our country”, but Jim Pickard at the Financial Times says it is “quite thin material when you boil it down to the essentials”.
How have the Conservatives reacted?
Johnson said claims the NHS was for sale were “total nonsense” and he could give a “cast-iron guarantee” that the NHS would not be part of formal talks.
International Development Secretary Liz Truss said Labour’s revelations were simply a stunt. “Jeremy Corbyn is getting desperate and is out and out lying about what the documents contain,” she said. “People should not believe what he says.
“As we have consistently made clear, the NHS will not be on the table in any future trade deal and the price that the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table. This sort of conspiracy theory fuelled nonsense is not befitting of the leader of a major political party,” The Guardian adds.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Local elections 2025: where are they and who is on course to win?
The Explainer Reform UK predicted to make large gains, with 23 councils and six mayoralties up for grabs
By The Week UK Published
-
What is Starmer's £33m plan to smash 'vile' Channel migration gangs?
Today's Big Question PM lays out plan to tackle migration gangs like international terrorism, with cooperation across countries and enhanced police powers
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
The tribes battling it out in Keir Starmer's Labour Party
The Explainer From the soft left to his unruly new MPs, Keir Starmer is already facing challenges from some sections of the Labour Party
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Are we on the brink of a recession?
Today's Big Question Britain's shrinking economy is likely to upend Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement spending plans
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Has Starmer put Britain back on the world stage?
Talking Point UK takes leading role in Europe on Ukraine and Starmer praised as credible 'bridge' with the US under Trump
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
CPAC: Scenes from a MAGA zoo
Feature Standing ovations, chainsaws, and salutes
By The Week US Published
-
Left on read: Labour's WhatsApp dilemma
Talking Point Andrew Gwynne has been sacked as health minister over messages posted in a Labour WhatsApp group
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Peter Mandelson: can he make special relationship great again?
In the Spotlight New Labour architect, picked for his 'guile, expertise in world affairs and trade issues, and networking skills', on a mission to woo Donald Trump
By The Week UK Published