Nick Dearden of the nonprofit Global Justice Now said: “When it comes to a piece of domestic policy regulation like NHS price controls, I find it extraordinary that the public or parliamentarians are not allowed to see their calculations.”
When we asked the Scottish government about the deal, it told us it was “given no role in the process – despite the clear impact on Scotland and our NHS”. While it said that the deal should also help drive investment, it also said it believes the UK government has made substantial concessions.
Since the deal was announced there was a growing concern among Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and SNP MPs about the details of it and what it will cost the NHS.
The Lib Dems have called on Keir Starmer to cancel the “Trump tax” on the NHS and invest in fixing social care instead. “We are very, very, very, very nervous that money will be diverted from frontline services, where we already have a crisis situation,” said Helen Morgan MP.
She added that she is “concerned about any kind of deal with the US, because Trump hasn’t stuck to previous deals”. In fact, although the UK and US have signed up to the deal, it is not legally binding under UK and international law. This means that the agreements made around UK exports to the US are subject to change, including the zero tariffs.
It appears the Americans are happy. US health secretary Robert F Kennedy thanked Trump for “delivering results that put Americans first” and secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick said the deal would mean “the breakthroughs of tomorrow will be built, tested and produced on American soil”.
As for the pharma companies who threatened to leave the UK, they haven’t yet committed to stay. AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb did not respond to our questions. The latest from Eli Lilly, which had hit pause on its London lab project, was that the confirmation of the deal was encouraging and that the company will “revisit our investment plans there as the environment improves”. Or, in other words: not yet.