GRANT Shapps has denied a potential transatlantic trade deal between Europe and America would lead to the privatisation of the NHS, insisting, rather, it could "turbo-charge" the British economy by £10bn; £400 a year for every family.
The Conservative Chairman, speaking at a campaign event in central London in favour of free trade, insisted it would be a major step forward if the US ban on certain foodstuffs could be lifted, declaring how it would be "wonderful to decriminalise haggis".
"Incredibly," he told an audience largely made up of Tory candidates, "British lamb is illegal in the United States and so is British venison. It is quite literally a criminal offence for a British farmer to sell certain products to the largest economy on Earth, even if American diners want to enjoy these dishes."
He went on: "President Obama - whose family tree is said to go all the way back to a 12th-century king of Scotland - has never in his life been able to buy an authentic Scottish haggis for his family, not even on Burns Night.
"Now, you may or may not like haggis but, to paraphrase Voltaire, I may not agree with what the Scottish eat but I will defend to the death their right to eat it. It would be wonderful to decriminalise haggis," declared Mr Shapps.
He spoke out against trade tariffs and other protectionist measures, which he branded "a secret tax" on goods, saying the Conservatives wanted to scrap them as they were hurting the British economy.
The Tory Chairman decried critics of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(TTIP), who claimed it would lead to the privatisation of the NHS, as "scaremongers".
This, he insisted, was "just completely and utterly untrue and here's why: the NHS is excluded from the talks; this fact has been confirmed in writing by the European Commission".
He added: "So, let me to put this to bed, and squash this once and for all: our NHS is not at risk from free trade with America or anyone else; no ifs, no buts."
Critics of TTIP fear that should a US-EU deal be sealed, it could enable American health giants to bid for NHS contracts then sue for millions of pounds if the UK Government later attempted to ditch them.
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