THE First Minister has issued a slapdown to the UK Health Minister over his claims about the NHS.

Matt Hancock tweeted a clip of himself taking questions on health in the House of Commons.

In the clip, he says: “The NHS is of the table in trade talks and pharmaceutical pricing are off the table and transparency over pharmaceutical pricing would not work because we get the best deals in the world because we can keep them confidential.

“So it’s a slight surprise to hear a member of that side of the House [pointing to the Labour benches] argue for what would effectively lead to higher for drugs in the NHS.

“Instead, we will protect the NHS,” he concludes.

The video was accompanied by the words: “How many times do I have to say this? The NHS. Is. Not. For. Sale.”

With a General Election on the horizon, one likely to be fought on independence and Brexit, things like the future of the NHS are certain to come up during the campaign.

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There are fears that under certain types of Brexit parts of the NHS could be used in future trade talks.

Nicola Sturgeon then quote-tweeted the Health Secretary, responding with: “How many times do we have to say this? We. Do. Not. Believe. You.”