NICOLA Sturgeon will today warn that a Boris Johnson-led Tory government would pose the biggest threat to Scotland’s National Health Service in its history.
The First Minister is expected to deliver the message when she visits St Andrews where Stephen Gethins is fighting to hold onto the marginal seat of North East Fife, which he won by just two votes in 2017.
Speaking to SNP activists on St Andrew’s Day on the campaign trail she is expected to say that Johnson is “a real and present danger” to the health service.
“Boris Johnson’s extreme Brexit is the biggest threat to Scotland’s NHS since it was founded just over 70 years ago,” she said.
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“He is a real and present danger to our precious, publicly run health service. His Tory Brexit plan will make it harder to attract NHS staff from Europe. The economy will slow-down, putting increased pressure on NHS budgets. Compared with EU membership his deal could cut Scotland’s national income by £9 billion by the end of the next decade.”
She added: “And if Boris Johnson takes Scotland and the UK out of the EU with no trade deal at all next year – which is looking increasingly likely – the cost could be £12.7bn. That’s the equivalent of around £2300 per person in Scotland."
Her warning comes after leaked documents obtained by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from trade talks between London and Washington suggested the US would demand the NHS would be on the table in any future trade deal.
The documents report that US officials said they wanted the starting point for negotiations to be full market access with all sectors on the table including the supply of medicines. Pharmaceutical companies generally charge higher prices in the US than in Europe, where health services like the NHS use their scale to keep prices low.
The documents also showed the talks discussed issues such as food safety standards, with the US side offering to share their talking points on chlorine-washed chicken with the UK.
Sturgeon continued: “US drugs firms want “full market access” to the NHS in any Tory-Trump trade deal – raising the prices the health service has to pay.
“The Foreign Secretary has even complained that Scotland has too many nurses and ambulance staff compared with the rest of the UK. This all adds up to a sustained Tory assault on Scotland’s health service. The NHS will never be safe in Boris Johnson’s hands.”
She went on to urge voters to back the SNP on December 12 underlining that the SNP is the challenger to the Tories in all 13 seats they hold.
Meanwhile, on the campaign trail in Scotland yesterday, Chancellor Sajid Javid used a visit to Stirling to attack both the SNP leader and what he described as her “far-left allies in the Labour Party”, which he claimed is “riddled” with anti-Semitism.
Campaigning in one of the SNP’s top targets in next month’s General Election – he spoke about the “chaotic” impact of a Government led by Corbyn and supported by Sturgeon.
While Corbyn has ruled out allowing Scotland to have a second vote on independence in the “early years” of a Labour administration, the Chancellor claimed such a vote would take place next year.
He said the UK would also have to deal with a “divisive” second referendum on Brexit.
“If Corbyn can’t get a majority he will absolutely have an alliance with Nicola Sturgeon, they have already had discussions, they have already agreed they would have another divisive referendum on Brexit but also a divisive referendum on independence,” he said.
Elsewhere in the campaign the Scottish LibDems published their manifesto in Edinburgh pledging to oppose a second independence referendum and cancel Brexit.
In Glasgow, the Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie said any word that comes out of Johnson’s mouth cannot be trusted after the PM avoided a leaders’ debate on Channel Four on climate change on Thursday night.
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