Why we shouldn’t let the fight against TTIP become a platform for UKIP

Date: 9 July 2015

After yesterday’s unfortunate vote in favour of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in the European parliament, UKIP was quick to present itself as the forefront of the campaign against the dangerous EU-US trade deal. When the vote had been scuppered the previous month, the headline of the Independent drew attention to UKIP and party leader Nigel Farage for their role in the fight against the much-criticised TTIP.

In reality more than a fifth of UKIP’s members of the European parliament (MEPs) didn’t even show up for the vote. That isn’t exactly what you would expect from a party that has declared itself a champion of anti-TTIP campaigning. In contrast to UKIP MEPs, all other party’s members showed up to vote (except for 2 from the Conservatives).

UKIP doesn’t actually disagree with the content of TTIP, only that it’s negotiated by the EU and say that they would seek a similar deal with the US if the UK was out of the EU. In fact UKIP’s policies are as much a threat to the people that would be hit hardest by TTIP as the deal itself. As with most economic policies we’re facing right now, TTIP would first and foremost hit working class and black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, as well as people who are dependent on vital public services such as the NHS. The fight against TTIP is a fight for social and economic justice – and Nigel Farage and UKIP are not our allies in this.

HIV/AIDS medicine

TTIP has been described as a major threat to people dependent on antiretroviral drugs and other life-saving medicines, as the deal could severely limit the production of cheap generic drugs and enable companies to keep results of crucial clinical trials secret. But UKIP is no friend of people with HIV either. During the election, Nigel Farage infamously lashed out against UK residents with HIV/AIDS who are not born here – blaming them for coming to the UK just to access medicine. The absurdity of this claim has since been exposed by campaigners and journalists. It is time the absurdity of UKIP being presented as a protector of the NHS is called out too.

The NHS and public services

TTIP is a major threat to a public health system. The deal could open up the NHS (and other public services) to privatisation and allow multinational companies to sue the government if we decided to renationalise the parts of the health service that have already been sold off. But UKIP member of the European parliament Roger Helmer has famously supported views that the NHS was a “60-year mistake” and Nigel Farage has previously spoken out in favour of a private healthcare system. Are these the kind of people that form the forefront of the campaign against TTIP?

Jobs and workers’ rights

TTIP is a major threat to jobs and worker’s rights. More than one million jobs could be lost and European labour standards could be lowered to US levels. Goodbye rights to sick pay and paid holidays. Well, UKIP are also looking to scrap rights like holiday, sick pay and compensation for overtime work. So what exactly is the point?

Migrants’ rights

Last year our campaign against TTIP was joined by the amazing All African Women’s group in London. As they rightly pointed out the prospect of locked-in privatisation of services is a major threat to migrants. Privately-run detention centres like Yarlswood near Gatwick have faced criticism for their inhumane treatment of migrants and the prospect of an unstoppable continuation of this is horrifying. It also seems likely that migrants – as usual – would experience the worst consequences of deteriorating working conditions brought about by TTIP. UKIP an ally of migrants?

Yes, we need every vote we can get against TTIP in the European Parliament, including UKIP’s. But celebrating a party associated with racism and homophobia as a champion of the campaign against TTIP is a mistake. In the fight for social and economic justice we must ally ourselves with the people who are going to be hit the hardest of deals like TTIP, not their oppressors.