Today in the House of Commons, an amendment which was put forward by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and supported by Labour leader Keir Starmer, as well as a number of other senior Labour MPs, was voted down. The amendment to the Trade Bill intended to protect the NHS and publicly funded health and care services from any form of control from outside the UK. The clause was rejected by 263 votes to 326, with a majority of 63.

This means that parliament and MPs will not have a vote on any post-Brexit trade deal or any new agreement signed by the government. All of the votes which were against this amendment came from the Conservatives’ overwhelming parliamentary majority.

According to the Independent, during the debate, shadow international trade minister Bill Esterson said the lack of scrutiny threatened to leave the health service “wide open to pharmaceutical giants” and to “undermine” farmers and consumers.

This new announcement resulted in many people on social media worrying about what it could mean for the future. In addition to protecting the NHS from foreign control, the amendment also contained numerous other measures to protect it.

During the 2019 election, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had said he had proof the Conservatives were planning to include the NHS in a future trade agreement with the US—something that had then been denied by the UK government.