FOR most National readers, it would seem incredible that anyone, anywhere, could be in favour of privatising the NHS.

But there are plenty who are, and it’s no surprise that they are of the right-wing, political establishment variety.

One such supporter of an American-style healthcare system in the UK is Daniel Hannan, Tory MEP, rampant Brexiteer, former chairman of the dodgy Vote Leave campaign and purveyor of alt history with his controversial and subjective take on Northern Irish and Scottish politics.

Hannan has lots of fingers in various pies, not least his founding of UK based think tank, the Initiative for Free Trade which advocates that, post-Brexit, American healthcare companies should compete with the NHS to run hospitals in Britain.

Hannan is getting all hot under the collar about the potential of free trade agreements with the US once the UK has left the EU, opening the door to creating competitive tendering on hospital contracts, and bringing American and UK food and environmental safety regulations into line. Chlorinated chicken burger anyone? Insulin shortages and the end of cancer screening anyone else?

As far as Hannan and the IFT are concerned, these risks to health in what they view as a newly revitalised post Brexit UK, free of prohibitive EU barriers to trade, will be worth it. But in this market free for all, in this chummy transatlantic very special relationship, one man’s downfall will be another’s opportunity and Hannan can’t hide the pound and dollar signs in his eyes.

Interestingly, this prospectus for the NHS is a joint effort by the IFT and an American think tank, the Cato Institute, which according to its own website, is a non-partisan research organisation devoted to individual liberty, limited government and free markets.

In fact, there seems to be rather a lot of these UK independent right-wing think tanks cosying up with their US counterparts in preparation for a free trade new dawn, once the protections of the European Union are lost.

But, surely they are out of step with most voters in Britain who would shy away from the idea of emulating the inhumane US health care model? Funnily enough, Hannan and the IFT’s project has the backing of Tory MPs Liam Fox and Boris Johnson. If ever there was a sign that something wasn’t a good idea, it would be the endorsement of these three amigos.

And let’s not forget that old bad penny, who always pops up when there is a buck to be passed and then made and an important legacy to be destroyed – step forward Nigel Farage, current leader of the Brexit Party, a re-worked Ukip for post-referendum die-hards, whose controversial public support for privatisation of the NHS seems to have been ignored in the media scrum to book this larger than life character.

In fact, the absence of anything concrete in terms of policy or Brexit planning by Farage has been overlooked by everyone except a small minority of presenters and journalists, the ones whom Farage tries hard to avoid.

So far, so convenient for this wolf in tweed clothing. But, it would surely be far more interesting for most voters if Farage was actually challenged and held to account on his views that healthcare should be market-funded – an idea so extreme and extremely unpopular that even Ukip revolted and told their then leader to think twice.

Much of the Farage base would be horrified to find out that they wouldn’t be able to see their GP for free anymore, pay over the odds for prescriptions and have to by-pass their essential heart surgery due to not having full health care insurance coverage. Just as a promise on health funding on the side of a bus sealed Farage’s triumph in 2016 the health issue could prove his undoing in 2019, that is if he is properly scrutinised.

Should this happen, Farage would just double down on his inflammatory rhetoric, blaming immigration for over-taxing health care resources, clogging up waiting lists and A&E access. He’ll keep this myth running with help from his tabloid pals despite empirical research to the contrary.

According to the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, rather than migrants being a drain on NHS resources, they are healthier than the native population, use health care services less while also making an above average contribution to health service staffing. But facts don’t matter to Farage, why tell the truth when lies are more convenient?

None of this elite – Hannan, Gove, Fox, Johnson, Farage – walk in a straight line. Like posh, well-educated Only Fools and Horses Del boys, it’s all about what they can get, what they can make out of turning everything on its head. Hell mend everyone else who can’t afford medical insurance. It will be a deil tak the hindmost health service.

However, even before these Del Posh Boys have got their hands on more power, in England, the creeping privatisation of the NHS is already happening. Hands up if you’d rather have Virgin Care or an NHS doctor make decisions on yours or your loved ones’ future health? NHS England has said that the current UK Government’s drive to bring the private sector and financial competition into vital services has been shambolic and a huge waste of public resources with patients ultimately receiving substandard care. In Scotland, it’s a whole different story, with responsibility for the NHS a devolved matter, and private interference held at bay – so far. But after Brexit, when the Tory power grab of important devolved areas takes this control away, it’s alarming to think what could happen to our vital health care services.

Rejecting Brexit is about protecting the NHS in Scotland, and across the UK. Rejecting these self-serving politicians, rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of unfettered wealth creation at the expense of everyone else, is about safeguarding the NHS for the future.

As long as we are tied to these privateers and disaster capitalists, our services and our prosperity as a nation is under threat. Scotland must choose another path.