Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris defends NHS Trade Bill vote on residents' Facebook page

The MP for Daventry waded into a community Facebook page last night to "correct the record" after a resident criticised him for his vote on the post-Brexit Trade Bill.

The House of Commons voted this week (July 20) on the third reading of the highly-debated bill, which will steer the UK's stance on future trade agreements after Brexit.

However, it included a controversial amendment - 'New Clause 4' - raised by opposition parties intended to "protect the NHS and publicly funded health and care services in other parts of the UK from any form of control from outside the UK".

It also called on the Government to not sign any deal that undermined the country's ability to provide "a comprehensive and publicly funded health service free at the point of delivery" while regulating the pricing of medicine and protecting NHS from having their employment terms changed.

It was voted down by a majority of 86. All of Northamptonshire's Conservative MPs voted against the clause along party lines.

Opposition parties have criticised the vote - as well as another vote about food standards - as evidence that the NHS is "on the table" for a US-trade deal.

Yesterday (July 21), Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris personally defended his decision on Facebook community page 'West Haddon Live'.

The post saw one resident say there was "no need to scroll through the list" to see if the Daventry MP had voted against the clause, while another linked a joke posted by the MP on his Twitter account and commenting: "This is what Heaton-Harris Spends his time doing."

"[...] I normally don't react to any 'political posts'," wrote the Daventry MP in a reply. "But as a number of misleading posts are circulating, I thought I should correct the record.

"[...] Last night I voted on the Trade Bill, which will maintain the free trade agreements that the UK has been party to through EU membership.

"As it cannot be used to implement new free trade agreements, the amendment tabled by the opposition was a political stunt.

"Any claims that the NHS is at risk in any future trade deal are absolutely false"

"Personally, I have little respect for those who try to scare vulnerable people by spreading what some would call 'fake news'."

The MP signed off by apologising for "posting a rebuttal on you community pages," and remarked it would "hopefully be the last time I ever need to".