Have you heard of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, otherwise known as TTIP? Probably not because the name of it is incredibly dry and those involved in the negotiations are trying to keep it a secret.

Oxford Mail:

Keith Taylor MEP

However, they’re not doing a very good job. On Saturday, I joined with campaigners across Europe for a huge international day of action against the EU-US trade deal which, as currently written, would have huge repercussions for the everyday lives of people in Oxfordshire.

Over the past few months, I’ve been inundated with letters from constituents expressing concern about the talks which began in July 2013, held in secret and backed by the British Government.

But why are people so concerned?

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Hard fought-for standards and protections that are currently enshrined in laws across the European Union (EU) and America – such as labour rights that safeguard us at work, environmental regulations that aim towards conserving our planet, and food safety laws that protect our health – could be challenged under the new deal.

One of my key concerns is the threat the deal poses to our public services. This includes our treasured NHS. Oxford is one of the cities with the highest proportion of public sector workers in the UK, and as if the British public and dedicated health professionals in Oxfordshire hadn’t seen enough, we now face the potential reality that TTIP would open up the NHS for further privatisation.

This is because the TTIP negotiators are keen to create new markets through the deal by opening up public services and government procurement contracts to competition.

Another deep concern is the threat TTIP poses to our food safety standards. The EU and America have different food standards, and some of America’s food safety laws are less stringent than those in Europe. For example, products such as bleached chicken and hormone-fed cattle products are sold on the American market, whereas we are at present protected from them in the EU.

However, the TTIP threatens to harmonise our laws with those of the US. When it comes to food standards and regulations, the TTIP could see previously banned products entering our markets.

This could have an impact not only on consumers, but also on farmers in the EU, as cheaper food products flood our markets.

Oxfordshire farmers, in the most rural county in the south east, already face the difficulties of an increasingly competitive industry, and opening up our borders further would only make this working environment more difficult.

Buckling under huge public pressure – at the time of writing more than 600,000 people have signed a cross-European anti-TTIP petition – some of the more mainstream political parties are now pushing for an exemption for the NHS. This is a good start, but isn’t good enough and it’s only the Green Party in the UK who are opposing the other existing and deeply troubling parts of the deal.

The role of politicians is to represent the interests of society, not corporations. That’s why my Green colleagues and I will continue to fight this anti-democratic deal, and why we’ll continue to work for a trade system which serves the people of Europe, the UK and Oxfordshire as well as the planet, rather than big business.

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