15 May 2014

LONDON’S Green MEP Jean Lambert has condemned the arrest of some 200 demonstrators – many Green Party activists – as business leaders met in Brussels to discuss a trade deal between the EU and US that could lead to the end of the NHS as we know it.

Ms Lambert said: “Today’s talks were deigned to cement further the role of US firms in providing public services across the EU – and help develop a deal that could mean an end to most environmental, health, and safety regulations across the EU.

“Many protesters today were peacefully arguing that this was an attack on democracy itself: some of them even worked, I’m told, for directly-elected MEPs.

“So there is a certain irony that hey were met with police water cannon and arrest.

“I hope they are all released, unharmed, quickly, and that the secretive trade deal – the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – is quickly abandoned.”