PM backs trade deals to benefit UK farmers
In his first speech since being sacked as Environment Secretary, Cornwall MP George Eustice has criticised a major trade deal – and Liz Truss. Martina Bet reports
THE UK must not “sacrifice quality for speed” in trade negotiations, Rishi Sunak said, after scathing criticism of the Australian agreement from a former Cabinet minister and Westcountry MP.
The Prime Minister, who has previously described the deal with Australia as “one-sided”, said there was always “give or take” in trade talks.
His comments came after former environment secretary George Eustice, the MP for Camborne and Redruth, said the deals negotiated with Australia and New Zealand included provisions that were not in the economic interests of the UK, with the Government giving away “far too much” to secure the post-Brexit accords.
Mr Eustice criticised the approach adopted by thentrade secretary Liz Truss in pursuing the deals, which were bitterly criticised by Westcountry farmers as bad for sheep and beef producers here in the UK.
Mr Sunak, speaking at the G20 summit in Bali, where he is expected to hold talks with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese today, indicated he would not repeat the mistakes made by Ms Truss.
“What I would say is, going forward, I want to make sure we don’t sacrifice quality for speed when it comes to trade deals. And that’s going to be my approach,” he told the BBC.
Asked if he would ratify the Australia deal, Mr Sunak said: “In trade deals, there’s always a degree of give or take and there are many positives from this deal, but it is right going forward that we don’t sacrifice quality for speed.”
THE post-Brexit trade deal with Australia “was not actually a very good deal” as the UK “gave away far too much for far too little in return”, a Conservative former cabinet minister has said.
In one of his first major contributions as a backbench MP, George Eustice spoke about the need to recognise the “failures” of the Department for International Trade (DiT) during the negotiations with Australia.
The former environment secretary said the UK did not actually need to give Australia nor New Zealand full liberalisation in beef and sheep as “it was not in our economic interest to do so”.
Mr Eustice called for the interim permanent secretary for the Department for International Trade to quit, after telling the Commons his approach during the negotiations was to “internalise” Australian demands even if they were against UK interests.
He also blamed Liz Truss, international trade secretary from 2019 until 2021, for setting an arbitrary target, and therefore “setting the clock against us and shattering our own negotiating position”.
Mr Eustice was environment secretary under Boris Johnson, but was sent to the backbenches by Ms Truss.
Unlike figures like Dominic Raab who made triumphant returns to their former positions under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the MP for Camborne and Redruth did not make the cut.
Speaking during a general debate on the Australia and New Zealand deals in the Commons, Mr Eustice said he was enjoying “the freedom of the backbenches”, particularly as “I no longer have to put such a positive gloss on what was agreed”.
He said: “Unless we recognise the failures that the Department for International Trade made during the Australia negotiations, we won’t be able to learn the lessons of future negotiations and there are critical negotiations under way right now, notably on CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) and on Canada, and it is essential that the Department for International Trade does not repeat the mistakes it made.
“And so the first step is to recognise that the Australia trade deal is not actually a very good deal for the UK.”
Mr Eustice said “the truth of the matter is that the UK gave away far too much for far too little in return”.
He added: “We did not actually need to give Australia nor New Zealand full liberalisation in beef and sheep. It was not in our economic interest to do so and neither Australia nor New Zealand had anything to offer in return for such a grand concession.”
On the arbitrary targets set by Ms Truss he said: “The UK went into this negotiation holding the strongest hand, holding all of the best cards, but at some point in early summer 2021, the then trade secretary (Liz Truss) took a decision to set an arbitrary target to conclude heads of terms by the time of the G7 summit, and from that moment the UK was on the back foot repeatedly.
“In fact, at one point the then trade secretary asked her opposite number from Australia what he would need in order to be able to conclude an agreement by G7, and of course the Australian negotiator very kindly set out the Australian terms, which then shaped eventually the deal.”
On the personnel within the department, Mr Eustice said: “Crawford Falconer, who is currently the interim permanent secretary, is not fit for that position, in my experience.
“His approach always was to internalise Australian demands, often when they were against UK interests, his advice was invariably to retreat and make fresh concessions and all the while he resented people who understood technical issues greater than he did.
“He has now done that job for several years. I think it would be a good opportunity for him to move on and to get a different type of negotiator in place, somebody who understands British interests better than I think he’s been able to.”
Finally, in relation to CPTPP, Mr Eustice said: “The best thing that the minister can do is to go back and tell Crawford Falconer that I don’t care if it takes a decade to do this agreement, we will get the right agreement.
“We are not ever again going to put ourselves in such a position of setting the clock against us and shattering our own negotiating position.”
As he closed the debate, trade minister Andrew Bowie said he listened “intently to his concerns regarding trade deals we are doing just now”.
But he added: “I am afraid I have to take issue and defend officials in the Department for International Trade, all of whom, without exception, are dedicated to bettering the trading relationship for this country and all of whom, without exception, have this country’s best interests at heart and are working day and night for this country.
“I should also point out that Australian and New Zealand beef and lamb suppliers are already working hard to satisfy demand from booming Asia and Pacific markets on their doorstep and New Zealand already has a significant volume of tariff-free access for lamb to the UK market, but used less than half of this quota in 2020.”
A source close to International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch told the Press Association: “With more than 25 years’ experience, Crawford is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts on global free trade and is doing an exemplary job. The deal we’ve done with Australia – which was collectively agreed to by a cabinet that included George Eustice himself – is set to unlock more than £10 billion of trade.
“Australia and NZ have huge markets in Asia and do not use their tariff-free allocations. The former EFRA secretary is mistaken in his attack – this deal will not damage British farming.”
Shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said it is “clear” that the Government’s trade policy is “in utter disarray”.
He added: “Even George Eustice, a cabinet member when the Australia trade deal was negotiated, has now agreed that ‘the UK gave away far too much for far too little in return.”