TORIES ‘SELL OUT BRITISH FOOD INDUSTRY’

Ross joins failed Commons rebellion

THE Tory Government has been accused of putting food quality at risk after MPs overturned plans to protect UK standards.

The RSPCA called the failure to enshrine measures for future trade in the Agriculture Bill a “sell-out”.

And the SNP said Boris Johnson had started a Brexit “race to the bottom” that threatens producers.

The vote caused a split in Tory ranks, with Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross saying his party should have put down a “clear marker” on trade.

The backlash followed a vote at Westminster on Monday night.

Despite a Tory rebellion, MPs voted by 332 to 279 to strike down a Lords amendment calling for the Bill to require agriculture and food imports to meet UK domestic standards.

The amendment was laid before Parliament to block imported food from places with lower animal welfare standards, after warnings over chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef in the US.

The Government argued existing protections are in place and said it has no intention of watering them down. Farming minister Victoria Prentis said there would not be a change to the law on import standards “under any circumstances”.

Ahead of the debate, a tractor demonstration took place in central London as farmers demanded food standards are upheld in post-Brexit trade deals.

SNP environment spokeswoman Deidre Brock said: “By refusing to enshrine into legislation the high standards that currently protect us, Boris Johnson’s Government has fired the starting gun for a post-Brexit race to the bottom.”

Ross, who put himself at odds with the Government by supporting the amendment, said: “I felt adding this clause would have provided further reassurance that our producers’ world-beating standards would not be compromised.”