CAMPAIGNERS from Dorset were joined by actress Anne-Marie Duff as they took to the streets of London to protest against changes to the NHS.

Members of the Save Dorset NHS campaign group joined a national coalition of health cmapaigners to deliver a petition signed by 140,000 people calling on David Cameron to protect the NHS from an EU trade deal called TTIP.

Anne-Marie Duff, together with doctors dressed in scrubs and activists from the People’s NHS, Save our Surgeries and Keep our NHS Public delivered the petition signed by people from across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to 10 Downing Street.

Campaigners say TTIP – a trade deal being negotiated between the EU and the US – could mean American multinationals or any firm with American investors could sue the UK government if it moved to take privatised health services back into public ownership.

Anne-Marie Duff, who starred in Suffragette, said: "We can't afford to take risks with the NHS.  It saves our lives and brings our children into the world regardless of who we are.  The NHS makes us all equals.  The TTIP trade deal puts that at risk because it could make privatisation irreversible.  I want the government to think again and protect the NHS from TTIP."

Sean Gray of Save Dorset NHS, who attended the event today, said: “Dorset residents want to get our NHS out of TTIP and hundreds have raised ‘NHS not for sale signs’ outside their homes and signed the petition. On behalf of Dorset I’m joining forces with similar groups from across the country to take our message to the Prime Minister. Today we are urging David Cameron to take the NHS out of TTIP to stop our NHS being irreversibly sold to American corporations.”

John Lipetz of Keep Our NHS Public, added: “Well over 140,000 people have signed our petition calling on David Cameron to protect the NHS from the dangerous TTIP trade deal which threatens our health service with irreversible privatisation.

“The government is exposing our NHS to huge risks and communities across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales expect the Prime Minister to act. The Conservative government does not have a mandate to allow the sell-off of the NHS to become permanent.”