European Union (Amendment) Bill

That intervention was slightly odd, as I have tabled precisely such an amendment; I am speaking to amendment No. 223. It says that for the avoidance of doubt—to use a Government expression on another matter—health will not be subject to the internal market provisions. I was referring to the Commission's draft directive, which clearly extends the principle of open competition and marketisation to the health service. Perhaps the Opposition parties are perfectly comfortable with such a proposal, but it cannot be right and I cannot believe that they would support the idea that such a change should be imposed on the United Kingdom's national health service through an ECJ ruling, which I think inappropriate, and its reinforcement by the Commission. If the NHS were to distribute its services differently, that would normally be the subject of a debate during a general election. The people would decide whether to vote for a party, such as the Conservative party, that proposed such a system, or for one such as ours that rebutted it. I would have thought that Members on both sides of the House agreed that to subvert the NHS's founding principles in this way was an undemocratic and inappropriate way to change health service provision. I want to draw to the attention of the House the Commission's response to the objections that were expressed in an early-day motion that I tabled some time ago. I do not have time to read out the whole text, but the Commission says that some stakeholders have raised concerns about the potential of cross-border health care to alter the overall choices of member states with regard to the mechanisms of control of access to health care. It goes on to say that, be that as it may, it may not be a bad thing if competition is introduced, because that may lead to the shortening of waiting lists, the increase of choice for patients and a shift from systems of distributions of health care such as the one in the NHS which is free at the point of delivery, to mechanisms involving such things as co-payments. Co-payments were clearly rejected at the general election. They will no doubt be the subject of debate in future, but I hardly think it appropriate for the Commission—an unelected body—to echo the voices of the marketisers in the ECJ by saying that the UK's health care is inappropriately distributed and that the mechanisms by which it is introduced should therefore be subject to change by what I regard as the inappropriate use of internal market principles, which have a generic application, rather than by the application of the principle that the United Kingdom Parliament should decide these matters. The way in which our health services should be distributed is a reserved matter. That is the burden of my case. It is important for Labour voices to speak up for our national health service, and to say that it is something that we created and that we are proud of. We will fight for the principle that the distribution of health care should be done according to the principles of the forefathers and foremothers of the health service. Beyond that, however, there are major questions to be asked about the way in which the European Union is determining policy. If all the nations have agreed that health should be a reserved matter, it cannot possibly be right to adopt a policy of driving a wedge in so that the ECJ can apply other principles to that reserved matter and gain competence in that area, or for the Commission to say, ““Well, the ECJ has established a principle, and we intend to build on it.”” Yet that is precisely what is happening. The purpose of my amendment is to allow us to have this debate tonight and to listen carefully to what the Minister says. I have to say that his earlier response was not entirely satisfactory, although he did go some way towards giving us some reassurance. I shall listen to any comments that he makes when he winds up the debate. I want to say to him, with all due respect, that, unless we are given clear assurances that the Commission will not be allowed to delve into health in this way, I shall seek to table an amendment at a future stage in the Bill's proceedings, particularly on the health service.