Boris Johnson defends the NHS in ITV interview

Boris Johnson, the UK's Prime Minister, was interviewed on ITV today ahead of today's Climate Change debate that is being held on Channel 4 at the time of writing. Only Jeremy Corbyn is part of the panel. 

Meanwhile, Johnson said that it would be stupid to negotiate over NHS and that a trade deal would be off the table with the US if Trump wants the NHS on the table. This follows a bombardment in the UK press, with headlines claiming that there is proof that the NHS is up for sale. The Guardian, for example, ran a story with a headline, " Secret Papers prove Tories want to sell NHS - Corbyn".

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed he had "proof" the NHS was at risk under a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. Corbyn claims he has a 451-page dossier showing initial talks had taken place, proving the NHS was "for sale" – Johnson said the claims were "nonsense" and the NHS would not be part of trade talks. The Tory manifesto even states, categorically, that neither the price paid for drugs nor NHS services will be "on the table".

FX implications

GBP/USD had surged from the 1.22 handle back in October and reached as high as the 1.30 handle on the notion that the Tory party would win the general election in December and subsequently get the Brexit deal done. The most recent YouGov polls have shown a landslide majority for the Tory party and GBP remains elevated on the 1.29 handle having made a recent high of 1.2951.