Boris Johnson likens Labour’s ‘NHS plot’ dossier to UFO pictures
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has compared a leaked 451-page document Labour has heralded as proof of a plot to privatise the NHS to photos of UFOs.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn revealed the unredacted documents detailing preliminary trade talks between the US and UK late last month, saying the files were proof that the NHS was “on the table” for a post-Brexit deal.
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But today Johnson appeared to claim that the documents could be false.
“There are photographs that purport to prove that there are UFOs, but it is complete nonsense” he told This Morning when asked about the dossier.
Extracts from the documents detailed exploratory talks about higher medicine prices and full market access to the NHS.
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But the Prime Minister today rejected the claims as an effort to scare voters into voting against the Tories.
“This is absolute nonsense and I think a scare story that comes up time and time again, every election,” he told hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
Read more: Was Labour right to warn over leaked US interest in the NHS?
When it was put to him that the document was proof of the NHS being up for grabs in trade talks, Johnson said he could give a “rock solid guarantee” it would not be sold off.
“I love the NHS, it is the most fantastic institution. It exemplifies the very best of our country,” he added.
It follows Trump’s insistence that he has no interest in including the NHS in US-UK trade talks when he came to the UK for the Nato summit this week.
Johnson also defended the Tories’ policy to end early release for seriously violent offenders after the London Bridge attack that claimed the lives of two young people, Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones.
Read more: Family of London Bridge attacker ‘saddened and shocked’
“You must always try to rehabilitate people – you’ve always got to give people a chance,” Johnson said. “But there are some people, and I think probably this guy is one of them, who just are not capable of being changed and in his case the best thing for the public and for him was to keep him inside and it was wrong to have early release.”