British opposition leaders are putting President Trump and his relationship with Boris Johnson at the center of their general election campaigns, accusing the prime minister of turning the United Kingdom into the 51st state as he pushes for a post-Brexit trade deal with Washington.
Trump has offered his support to Johnson and Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, as Britain prepares for an election on Dec. 12.
The campaign will be dominated by questions about whether to leave the European Union, as well as rival visions for Britain outside the European Union.
[Also read: Brexit leader Farage pledges to campaign for Trump in 2020]
Opposition parties are warning that any trade deal with the United States could threaten the future of the National Health Service, Britain’s universal healthcare system.
Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, said: “There is a risk to the NHS in this election — if we allow Scotland to be taken out of Europe against our will, which is what this broken [Parliament] threatens to do — we put our NHS at the mercy of Donald Trump in future trade negotiations.”
Trump is toxic to many British voters, making him a powerful line of attack against Johnson, who has made much of their good relationship.
The president sparked anger earlier this year when he said the NHS would be “on the table” in any deal. But during an interview with Farage’s radio show last week, Trump said he was not interested in seeking the privatization of the NHS.
That has not stopped the attacks.
On Sunday, John McDonnell, the Labour Party’s economic spokesman, said the public should not trust Trump’s comments. He cited reports of British officials meeting American pharmaceutical companies as evidence that the NHS was not safe.
“Donald Trump has … on this particular issue, made a number of contradictory statements,” he told a Sunday morning BBC political show. “We have to go on the evidence. The evidence, the civil servants, on nine or 11 occasions sitting down negotiating to sell our NHS.”
The party’s leader in Scotland echoed those concerns.
“My reading of Boris Johnson’s approach is that while he wants to wrench the U.K. out of Europe, he wants to make us almost the 51st state of the United States of America,” said Richard Leonard, outside a hospital in Airdrie, according to the Press Association news wire.
“He sets all his store by trade agreements with Donald Trump.
“Now, Trump’s position is America first, and there’s no doubt that any agreement if ever that was to be reached with the U.S. in a bilateral trade deal, would see the opening up of parts of our public realm in this country to private interests based in America.”
