Esther McVey has put pressure on the new government to promise it will not hand over powers to the World Health Organisation which would dictate how the UK reacts to any future pandemics.
The Tatton MP said the UK was best placed to decide how and what measures should be put in place and must not be bound by any rules dictated by others.
Speaking in Health Questions she challenged new Health Secretary Wes Streeting to set out his position, saying: “Does the Secretary of State agree with me that handing over powers to the WHO which would undermine the UK’s ability to make their own sovereign decisions would be unacceptable.”
The WHO is negotiating a treaty on pandemic preparedness and since the plan was first mentioned, Ms McVey has been contacted by constituents worried that Britain was handing over control to unelected health officials in Geneva.
Mr Streeting said: “The WHO is an inter-governmental organisation and it is of vital importance that of course first and foremost that we work and only agree to things that are in our national interest.
“But we should not lose sight of the fact that in pursuit of our national interest there are lots of things we need to do together, from tackling microbial resistance to preventing future pandemic treats and that is exactly what we will do.”
The proposed changes could see the UK forced to introduce lockdowns and lose sovereignty of the UK's borders.
Ms McVey said: “I have always been clear that these changes to the International Health Regulations – in effect the rule book – need proper scrutiny. I took no confidence from this answer. It seems to me Labour is planning to hand over UK sovereignty to this international body. We must have a thorough and robust debate in Parliamentary where MPs can vote on these proposals. It is too serious a matter for Labour to simply push through and agree to.”
