DESIGNED for the exclusive benefit of transnational corporations (TNCs), the Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a dishonest title for a secretive deal being cooked up behind closed doors by the EU and the US.

It has got little to do with tariff barriers. Instead, it constitutes a blatant drive by TNCs to erode the power of sovereign governments, drive down labour rights and destroy health, safety and environmental standards.

This timely pamphlet is a comprehensive overview of the issues raised by TTIP and why we need to fight it with all the tools at our disposal. It demonstrates the hold that neoliberal ideology has over the state as its tentacles extend deep into government and shape economic and political policy. 

This exercise in the corporate takeover of the public realm really is a Dutch action and if it succeeds, along with the parallel deal with Canada the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the TransPacific Partnership, we can say goodbye to the welfare state and the social gains made since 1945. 

But many mainstream commentators have bought into the “jobs and growth” spin promoted by the Tories and their allies. 

We urgently need a cohesive rejection of the deal in its entirety. Fighting against the Investor-State Dispute Settlement — which would allow TNCs to sue national governments via an arbitration panel of trade lawyers in a jurisdiction of the corporation’s choosing — and seeking to ring-fence the NHS from the provisions of TTIP are a start. But we need to go further. 

TTIP will enforce “regulatory harmonisation” to the lowest common denominator. Once services are privatised it will be impossible to renationalise them and those remaining in the public sector will come under increasing pressure.

Anything deemed likely to have a negative impact on corporations’ future profits will be up for grabs.

Growing awareness of the problem among trade unions, NGOs and ordinary citizens across the EU provides a very real opportunity to mobilise opinion against TTIP in its totality. 

In the process, the Labour Party needs to explain why they continue to support it. That’s why this pamphlet is such an important part of building support for the anti-TTIP campaign. 

Copies are available at £1+50p p&p from Democrat Press, PO Box 46295, London W5 2UG.