I WONDER how many people read Dr Mick Phythian’s letter in The Press of May 10 about the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) at all, or with real comprehension.

I am still struggling with this issue; struggling in the sense of shaking my head in disbelief and conveniently forgetting about it, until reminded by this timely letter.

This matter is hard to grasp, genuinely worrying and serious.

A starting point might be found in the following extract from The Independent on Sunday of April 27: “The NHS could be ‘carved open’ for profiteering US private healthcare companies by the end of this year, Labour has warned, as concerns grow over the implications of a landmark trade treaty between the US and the EU that critics say would give US healthcare giants ‘irreversible’ powers to bid for any NHS contract. Negotiations between the EU and the US over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which aims to remove barriers to trade, are at an advanced stage.”

Some websites may assist also: York’s Defend Our NHS defendournhsyork.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/ the-transatlantic-trade-andinvestment- partnership-andwhy-we-all-need-to-fight-it/

Information from The Guardian theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/ transatlantic-free-trade-dealregulation-by-lawyers-eu-us

I have no axe to grind other than a fierce desire to defend our publicly owned, free-atthe- point of delivery NHS. I am simply a York citizen.

Dorothy Nicholson, Grange Garth, York.