PRITI PATEL owes her constituents an apology, NHS campaigners said yesterday as they pressed the Tory MP to help protect the NHS from privatisation under trade deal TTIP.

The Employment Minister caused outrage last month when she branded a group of disabled and elderly activists from the People’s NHS campaign “thugs.”

Ms Patel’s comments followed a peaceful protest by the group outside her constituency office in Witham, Essex, warning of the threat posed to the NHS by the secretive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

They have subsequently returned to the office for further demonstrations, and then stood on streets in the town centre encouraging fellow constituents to write letters to Ms Patel on the subject.

Constituent Liz Harries said: “Instead of branding us thugs Priti Patel should do the right thing: Apologise and listen to our concerns.”