NHS will pay as government gives in to Trump

The British government has just agreed a deal with Trump that will see the NHS pay a massive 25% more for US-produced medicines.

The media are reporting this as a ‘zero-tariff’ deal – but that is missing the point. The UK has not gained anything whatsoever – it has agreed to a price rise in response to Trump’s threat of tariffs.

The price rise estimate comes from the US itself. As the Office of the US Trade Representative puts it, the NHS will “increase the net price it pays for new medicines by 25%”. This money will go into the pockets of US Big Pharma corporations.

The government have forced the NHS to pay a ransom, and now they want us to celebrate.

This is the latest part of the so-called ‘UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal’, the slowly-growing trade deal first announced this May. This deal has repeatedly seen the UK capitulate to Trump’s interests.

Trump is repeatedly menacing us with threats of tariffs – and he can make up new tariffs at any time, sometimes in social media posts. The British government then offers significant concessions to avoid the made-up tariffs. It is literally money for nothing.

Our NHS should not have to pay the price for the government’s failure to stand up to Trump.