More than 30 MPs have signed a House of Commons motion opposing Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s new power to override the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) on drug pricing. The move, introduced via a statutory instrument, allows Streeting to direct Nice on cost-effectiveness thresholds for medicines, as part of a UK-US drug pricing deal.
Labour, Green, Liberal Democrat, Independent, SNP and Plaid Cymru MPs backed the “prayer” tabled by former shadow chancellor John McDonnell. McDonnell warned the change undermines Nice’s independence and risks diverting NHS resources to pharmaceutical companies. He said the deal gives “US big pharma the potential of immense influence over our drugs policies”.
Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of caving in to “the bully in the White House”. Former Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley, now a peer, tabled a motion of regret in the Lords, warning the regulations may breach the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which bars ministerial direction on Nice recommendations.
The Health Foundation thinktank warned higher NHS drug spending will force “difficult cuts” to other services. The British Medical Journal’s editor-in-chief, Kamran Abbasi, called the deal a sacrifice of “population health for corporate wealth”. The government defends the agreement as a way to avoid US tariffs and improve patient access to life-extending drugs.
