Battle for health

There has been discussion in The Scotsman about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the effect it might have as regards privatisation of the NHS in Scotland.

Most recently, Joe Darby (Letters, 22 August) suggests that, because the treaty is being
negotiated by the EU Commission, an independent Scotland within the EU could not prevent the agreement of a treaty with such an effect.

In fact, member states have a veto in the EU Council of
Ministers in respect of trade agreements in the field of health services where such agreements risk seriously disturbing the national organisation of such services and prejudicing the
responsibility of member states to deliver them.

As a guarantee of the NHS, it really does come down to who you trust: a Conservative-led government that has been the agent of privatisation, or a
Scottish Government that has
resisted it.

Robert Seaton

Bedford Court

Edinburgh