MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has rebuked the European Parliament’s endorsement of a resolution on the trade deal between the European Union and the United States on Wednesday.
"This is a very damaging vote by MEPs which will hurt free trade and the financial well-being of patients, consumers and workers," UKIP trade spokesman William Dartmouth said in a statement.
Dartmouth warned that parliament’s decision would draw the ire of consumer rights advocates, small business representatives and those backing the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
In a recent interview with Sputnik, UKIP spokeswoman for small business Margot Parker expressed concern that TTIP would lead to NHS privatization.
A draft, leaked in February, of EU’s "initial offer" in the TTIP negotiations authorized US health corporations to sue governments if lawmakers sought to renationalize for-profit services operating within the NHS.
Negotiated in unusual secrecy for the past two years, TTIP is designed to allot undue power to multinational corporations and other copyright holders, with a specific clause permitting them to sue governments.
Other concerns over TTIP include the removal of local control of trade legislation and copyright from sovereign nations.
