THE SICK MAN OF EUROPE: MPs voted to remove legislation that would have prevented the NHS from becoming a bargaining chip in future trade deals. It’s a far cry from the referendum bus which promised an extra £350m a week to the NHS.
Extensive research, or even a quick search on Google, reveals that Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock, and even Donald Trump have denied that the NHS is on the table as part of a trade deal. Now Parliament has voted against protecting it. The dead cat is amongst the pigeons now.
Parliament also voted down the right to scrutinize any future trade bills. So the NHS could be sold off without challenge. It’s a far cry from Take Back Control.
How did we get here? Promises made by Leavers are clearly not worth the bus they are painted on, although these promises were enough to win them crucial votes.
So the notorious referendum was won, at least in part, by lies. That’s before considering the alleged influence of Russian interests, and the subsequent elevation to de facto Prime Minister of alleged Russian double agent Dominic Cummings.
We have been told, time and time again, that Leave voters knew exactly what they were voting for. But they voted for extra money for the NHS. It was in big letters on a big red bus.
Leave voters voted for a better Britain, not one that sells its democracy to a foreign country. The racist ones voted for fewer foreigners, not more. They voted for the NHS, not against. Many of them were led up the garden path and sold down the river.
But the dismantling of the NHS was predictable the moment Brexit became policy. Far from holding all the cards, the UK is down to its last few pieces of family silver, which it will flog off cheaply and desperately to get a trade deal.
I don’t remember seeing any of that on the side of a bus.