The NHS is far safer inside the European Union, argues Professor Martin McKee at the London School of Hygiene&Tropical Medicine in The BMJ today. He says the EU's international trade agreements now protect public services and that any threat to the NHS instead "comes from our own politicians and not from the EU."

Professor McKee was one of many academics concerned about free trade, specifically the much-politicized Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the United States, because socialized public services like the NHS could be opened up to competition under TTIP.

Since that has changed, so have academic feelings about the agreement, "and now that we can see the European position, it is apparent that many of our concerns have been taken on board. There are protections for public services, and specifically health services, but also education, social services, and police services."

Both the European Commission and the president of the European Parliament have made it clear that unless the Americans accept European protections for health services and public health there will be no agreement. Basically, there can be no free trade unless free trade is off the table. 

Outside the EU, a much weakened UK would have to negotiate a separate deal with the US, warns McKee, so it is better to have the EU protecting England.