(Bloomberg) — The U.K.’s political parties are focusing on domestic issues, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing new post-Brexit visas to fast-track foreign staff for the National Health Service, and Labour unveiling measures to improve working conditions for women. The Scottish National Party launched its campaign with a promise to block the state-run healthcare system from being included in any future trade deal with the U.S.
Key Developments:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is campaigning in Wales, as is Brexit Party leader Nigel FarageSNP promises second referendum on Scottish independenceLiberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson visits marginal seat of North East Fife, which the SNP won by just two votes in 2017
Sturgeon: Scotland’s ‘Fundamental’ Choice (11:30 a.m.)
Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland faces a “fundamental choice” at the Dec. 12 election: Vote SNP “to escape Brexit.”
“A vote for the SNP is a vote to take Scotland’s future out of the hands of Boris Johnson and a broken Westminster system,” Sturgeon said at the SNP’s election campaign launch in Edinburgh. Her party will pursue a referendum on Scottish independence next year, she said. The last one was held in 2014.
In comments that will have implications if the general election results in no party having a majority, Sturgeon ruled out backing any government unless it offers Scotland a plebiscite. And she suggested Jeremy Corbyn would support one. The Labour leader “supports self-determination for virtually every other country in the world,” she said. “It would be mighty strange if he didn’t support it for Scotland.”
Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, also pledged to introduce a new law to protect the state-run National Health Service from inclusion in any trade deal with the U.S. It would mean the Scottish Parliament and other devolved legislatures would have to give their explicit consent, she said.
Johnson Says NHS Not for Sale Under Tories (11 a.m.)
In a pooled interview with broadcasters, Boris Johnson denied the U.K.’s state-run National Health Service would be up for negotiation in any future trade deal with the U.S.
“We can do free trade deals with countries around the world but under us the NHS is not for sale,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to be on any kind of international trade negotiation.”
The U.K.’s health service is always a key election issue but it’s significance is heightened this time because of Brexit, and the government’s promise to negotiate a free-trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. That’s increased concerns the NHS could come under threat from U.S. health insurers and drug companies.
Johnson’s Brexit Analysis Provides Opposition Fodder (10 a.m.)
Even as Boris Johnson’s Conservatives try to put the attention on the National Health Service and other domestic issues on Friday, a video of the prime minister explaining the benefits of his Brexit deal to Northern Ireland is dominating the early headlines.
In a rambling speech, recorded at a meeting of local Conservatives in Northern Ireland, Johnson said the province got a “great deal” because it keeps freedom of movement with the European Union and access to the bloc’s single market.
Such comments are a gift to Tory opponents, particularly the pro-EU Liberal Democrats. Tom Brake, the party’s Brexit spokesman, responded on Twitter: “I do agree on one point: the Single Market and freedom of movement are indeed a great deal – even @BorisJohnson recognizes this.”
Meanwhile the Labour Party criticized Johnson for distorting the terms of his Brexit deal with Brussels when he told the audience there would be no checks on goods coming from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. The government has previously conceded some checks will be necessary on goods traveling in both directions.
“Boris Johnson either doesn’t understand the deal he has negotiated or he isn’t telling the truth. Probably both,” Labour’s Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, said on Twitter.
Earlier:
Corbyn’s U.K. Labour Party Is a Mess But Can Still Win PowerU.K.’s Johnson Pledges New Post-Brexit Visas for Doctors, NursesJohnson, Corbyn Unveil Voter-Pleasing Plans: U.K. Campaign Trail
–With assistance from Robert Hutton.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in London at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at [email protected], Thomas Penny, Stuart Biggs
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