AN OXFORDSHIRE MP has accused opposition parties of ‘scaremongering’ after he was criticised for voting against a bid to provide protection for the NHS in negotiations after Brexit.

David Johnston, Conservative member for Didcot and Wantage, had faced criticism online over his decision to vote with his party.

Though there were some defenders on Facebook page Spotted: Didcot, a post about his vote had more than 50 ‘angry’ reactions.

Labour, along with other opposition parties, had tried to introduce an amendment to the Trade Bill, Government-backed legislation designed to allow the UK to sign its own trade agreements after the UK’s exit from the EU.

It would have inserted a clause banning the Government from signing any trade deal that prevented the Government from providing a ‘comprehensive publicly funded health service free at the point of delivery’.

Labour MP Bill Esterson, speaking in the House of Common ahead of the vote, said: “Statements alone are worthless. It is very simple: the detailed text of all agreements must include cast-iron commitments, because it is not just the Prime Minister who wants to hand over our NHS to the healthcare corporations; it is his friend the US President.”

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But MPs voted on Monday evening by 340 votes to 251 to reject the amendment, with Government ministers insisting it was not needed.

The county’s Conservative MPs –Victoria Prentis, Robert Courts, John Howell and Mr Johnston – all voted with their party and against the amendment.

Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds, and Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran, for Labour and the Lib Dems respectively, voted in favour.

Explaining his decision, Mr Johnston said: “The Trade Bill has absolutely nothing to do with future trade agreements or the NHS – it is to allow us to continue to trade with the countries we currently trade with through the EU, like South Africa and South Korea.

“The Government has been absolutely clear the NHS will not be on the table in any future trade deals, nor will the price of drugs, and so the amendment was just another stunt by opposition parties, doubling down on the scaremongering that people didn’t fall for during their general election campaign and won’t fall for now.”

A joint statement from Ms Prentis, who also faced criticism online for her vote, and Mr Courts, said: “Our NHS will never be on the table at any trade deal. It is already protected by specific carve outs, exceptions and reservations in EU trade agreements.

"This will remain the case in any future trade agreement, whether transitioned from an EU context or as a result of future negotiations. It remains protected, as will the price the NHS pays for drugs."

They added that any suggestion otherwise was a 'myth'.