Britain should be prepared to walk away from a US trade deal if it undermines British farmers
Britain looks set to find itself in the invidious position of walking away from a trade deal with the US or allowing food standards to be eroded.
The power that Donald Trump wields at the start of his second term as President of the US, suggests that there will be little compromise.
However, Britain shouldn’t presume before negotiations have even begun, as there is always a back and forth during high level talks.
Quality and welfare standards must not be allowed to be sacrificed at any price, though. The UK prides itself on leading from the front when it comes to food standards. Turning our backs on quality would send the wrong message to the world.
The last thing Britain needs to do is join a race to the bottom. In the long run it would be damaging to the country. Not least our hardworking, already hard-pressed farming communities.
This is a chance for the Labour Government to show that it doesn’t have it in for the countryside. The Government is already skating on thin ice with rural communities. The row over Inheritance Tax has damaged trust between farmers and Westminster. And as Sarah Todd writes in today’s newspaper, there is a feeling that Labour has it in for rural communities.
The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by Boris Johnson’s government is already undermining British farming.
In order to get serious about food security, Britain needs to get behind its farmers. Allowing America to flood chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef into Britain is the opposite of that. In such circumstances, the Government should walk away from any deal.