Terry Hayward is quite right to criticise the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the trade deal that is being negotiated in secret between the EU and the USA.

However, he allows his dislike of the EU to cause him to underestimate the harm this deal would cause.

It is not the case that anything would be made illegal under EU law, if it were then the UK could appeal to the EU court and any issue would be aired in public. Under TTIP the only court would be a group of American corporate lawyers meeting in secret and there would be no right of appeal against their decision.

If for instance, in the case Terry brought up, the NHS did not put a certain service out to tender, say hip operations or they insisted on a higher standard than US legislation insisted upon, then corporations could then claim from the NHS the amount of profit they would have made. This goes for everything; in food standards, the US allows the use of hormones in milk production, the washing of chicken carcasses with chlorine and the use of GM foods.

TTIP could also prevent products being labelled as GM free.

Workers’ rights have a lower standard in the US, They have no minimum wage, no health and safety at work legislation, and no unfair dismissal legislation. These would all be under threat from TTIP. UK planning laws might be under threat, I mean the list is endless.

It is also wrong to solely blame the EU for these negotiations; both coalition parties are in favour of this treaty, as is the Labour Party and strangely enough, although they say they want to protect British sovereignty, are the UKIP.

Only the Green Party are opposing this corporate grab of our very democracy!

Steve Thompson, Norman Road, Swindon