Jeremy Corbyn has hit back in a row over plans for the NHS under a UK-US trade deal after Donald Trump said he wants “nothing to do” with the health service.
The Labour leader, who claims documents obtained by his party confirm the NHS would be on the table in trade talks, said he remained sceptical about the US leader’s claims.
President Trump, during the first day of his visit to the UK for a Nato summit, insisted the NHS was not “for sale” - as Mr Corbyn has been suggesting.
Mr Corbyn later said: “"I'm pleased that he's [Mr Trump] said that but, if that's the case why have these talks gone on for two years? Why have they been kept secret?"
He asked: "Why were, on a Freedom of Information request, the documents only produced in redacted form?... I think there are very legitimate grounds for very serious concern here.”
Ahead of the president’s arrival in the UK, Mr Corbyn demanded that Mr Trump does not try to push up medicine prices through a potential post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and US.
He last week claimed documents obtained by his party confirm the NHS would be on the table in trade talks with the US under a Tory government.
He revealed 451-pages of "unredacted" information from meetings between US and UK officials, who discussed the stipulations of a free trade deal between the two nations after Britain leaves the EU.
Asked about the discussions surrounding access to the NHS, Mr Trump on Tuesday said: “I don’t even know where that rumour started. We have absolutely nothing to do with it and we wouldn’t want to if you handed it to us on a silver platter.
“We want nothing to do with it.”
Mr Trump also waded into the general election by praising Boris Johnson and backing Brexit.
He insisted he would “stay out” of the historic poll next week and had refrained from Twitter outbursts. But he then put himself at the centre of the campaign during an impromptu press conference at the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park. “I think Boris is very capable,” he said. “I think he will do a good job.”
At first Mr Trump appeared to be trying not to interfere in the UK election, telling the press conference: “I don’t want to complicate it.”
But he then stressed his support for the Tory flagship policy of quitting the European Union, saying: “You know that I was a fan of Brexit. I called it the day before.”
Earlier, Mr Corbyn told the president he wanted "assurances" over the "prices paid to US drugs companies as a consequence of any such UK trade deal with the US".
Labour has warned throughout the election campaign that allowing US medical companies to supply drugs to the NHS would push up the price of medicines.
Mr Corbyn wrote: "As you will know, the potential impact of any future UK-US trade agreement on our National Health Service and other vital public services is of profound concern to the British public.
"A critical issue in this context is the cost of drugs to our NHS. The cost of patented drugs in the US is approximately 2.5 times higher than in the UK, and the price of the top 20 medicines is 4.8 times higher than in the UK.
He added: "Any increase in the NHS drugs bill would be an unacceptable outcome of US-UK trade negotiations.
"Yet you have given a number of clear and worrying indications that this is exactly what you hope to achieve.
He told Mr Trump it would "go a long way to reassuring the British public" if he rowed back from the NHS-related negotiation aims seen in the leaked civil service paper on the UK-US talks.
