Deals sold farmers ‘down the river’
FORMER UK agriculture minister George Eustice this week confirmed what Britain’s farmers have known all along – that their industry was badly short-changed by trade deals with Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking in Parliament last Monday, he said the UK had given away massive access to the UK food markets in exchange for negligible benefits.
Mr Eustice told MPS that the UK “gave away far too much for far too little in return” despite starting negotiations “with the strongest possible hand”.
Negotiators, he added, were undermined by former minister Liz Truss demanding a deal with Australia be struck before the G7 summit in Cornwall in June 2021.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “The positive spin given by Boris Johnson, ministers and MPS about these deals at the time was complete nonsense.
“We have always known and made clear that these deals sold UK farmers and food security down the river in exchange for virtually nothing.
“The UK gave away massive and ultimately complete access to our markets for beef, lamb and dairy products in exchange for minute benefits, all in order to meet deadlines for politically expedient press releases.”
Mr Eustice told Parliament that Australian negotiators had been allowed to “shape the terms” of the agreement.
He called for the Department for International Trade’s head to be sacked, saying now was “a good opportunity to move on and get a different type of negotiator in place, somebody who understands British interests better”.
Mr Roberts said the deals were recognised around the globe as being incredibly weak and had made a laughing stock of the UK on the international stage.
“MPS who continue to defend these deals no longer have a leg to stand on,” he said.
“The truth has now been given to Parliament from the horse’s mouth.”
The FUW is now urging the new Westminster regime to ensure any future trade deals take a far more robust approach – one that protects the UK’S farmers and food security.
“Our vulnerability to the further undermining our food security has been made clear by Russia’s war on Ukraine,” said Mr Roberts.
“The UK needs to reset its approach to international trade.”
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for International Trade and Wales, Sarah Green MP, highlighted the Conservative Government’s failure to analyse the impact of the deals on the different nations and regions in the UK.
Her comments follow previous criticism from the Welsh Liberal Democrats, who have accused the Conservatives of selling Welsh farmers down the river in one-sided trade negotiations.
Sarah Green said: “This Conservative Government has failed Wales by neglecting to carry out detailed assessments of how these trade deals will impact them, as well as other regions and nations in the UK.
“In Wales, a world-class lamb industry is now at risk, as are the communities relying on it.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling on this Conservative Government to fully assess the impact new trade agreements will have on the different parts of the UK.
“They must also set out an overarching trade strategy that guarantees a stringent assessment of any trade deal against minimum standards on human rights, environmental standards, labour standards and safety standards.
“This Conservative party cannot continue selling out entire industries for marginal economic gain while silencing the voices of those affected by denying proper parliamentary scrutiny.”