Rush into trade deals may be bad for the country

LONDONERS staycationing in the great British countryside this summer may be shocked on country walks by how desolate much of it currently looks.

Intensive farming means that, after the harvest, our wheatfields often resemble a lunar landscape. Stubble and parched earth run right to the hedgerows. Wild flowers barely get a look in.

One of the few positives possibly to emerge from Brexit is Michael Gove’s pledge that, unshackled from Europe, we can reward farmers adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

But that will be undercut if, in our gallop to sign trade deals, we allow the import of food produced without such standards. For allowing in crops grown cheaply with chemicals illegal in the UK, forces our farmers to farm more intensively to compete.

The Institute for Government thintank today warns that our trade negotiators are rushing so quickly to get deals done that they risk dropping the good standards that mark out British products as superior. And it’s not just farming that’s at risk. The US wants energy efficiency rules relaxed on computer screens; erosion of standards on getting chemicals approved for use; scrapping of protections for geographical names (Melton Mowbray pork pies from Iowa, anyone?).

We need clear statements, agreed across state departments, of what our red lines are. Talks should be less secretive, allowing scrutiny of what our negotiators are agreeing. This Brexiteer government wants to strike deals quickly so as to say “we told you so”. But if agree them in haste, we will surely repent at leisure.