TTIP - Thatcherism's ultimate triumph

#uNDC14 The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement between the European Union and the USA has "catastrophic implications for public services, not only here in the UK but across Europe," Glasgow's Chris Stephen told delegates, as Conference backed a range of measures to campaign against the treaty's adoption.

"The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership represents Thatcherism's ultimate triumph," said Chris. "It takes us from a mixed economy to a market economy with all of our public services, especially the NHS, at the mercy of global corporations.

"The treaty will give big business a greater status than national governments," he warned, especially the US Government's insistence on an "investor state dispute settlement" which will enable companies to challenge the democratic decisions of sovereign states.

"We still have a chance to stop this "irreversible power grab by corporations." Chris called on delegates to engage with War on Want’s campaign to lobby MPs to oppose the treaty and to sign the petition to Vince Cable on the 38 degrees website.

"Our union's priority must be to exclude public services from the treaty's provisions," said Chris, calling for every member and every branch to get involved in this campaign.