The Mirror’s splash today is expected to be the basis for Corbyn’s NHS speech alleging that the UK somehow wants to raise drug prices as a result of a US trade deal. The opposite of what trade deals do… nobody does a trade deal to raise prices.

The FOI research for the Labour/Mirror story was carried out by the Global Justice campaign group. They’re run by Nick Dearden, who is a cranky anti-Israel obsessive with some pretty nutty views…

Dearden is an anti-Israel obsessive whose main objective to a trade deal with the US seems to be that the US would want us to discourage people from boycotting Israeli products – something that is already in the Tory manifesto.

His other views include having:

• Claimed that former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks accusing Corbyn of being an antisemite was ‘an attempt to silence those speaking up for Palestine’.
• Said jihadist groups like ISIS shouldn’t be banned from the UK
• Said antisemitism was used to ‘silence any MP who dares criticise Israel’
• Singled out George Soros as an ‘extremist’ that caused the Greek financial crisis
• Praised corrupt Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman, claiming that he ‘speaks for me’
• Dismissed Hamas’ opposition to a Jewish state
• Defended anti-semite Lib Dem peer Jenny Tonge, claiming she was ‘sacked for telling it like it is on Israel’
• In 2016, Dearden wrote an article praising Venezuela’s ‘foundation for a truly democratic food system’, and that it has ‘lit a beacon of hope’. In the three years since Venezuela has seen widespread famine, starvation and malnutrition…

Dearden’s main objection to a trade deal with the US seems to be that it will make it harder to boycott Israel. He has also said that criticism of Corbyn over antisemitism by former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks was ‘an attempt to silence those speaking up for Palestine’.

Other highlights include praise for Venezuela’s ‘democratic food system’, defending Hamas, calling George Soros an ‘extremist’ who caused the Greek financial crisis, and opposing banning ISIS from the UK. Dearden has said he is attending the Corbyn event…