SWAPPING “Scottish smoked salmon for Stetson hats” will protect the UK economy after Brexit, Boris Johnson has said.
In a late night statement on upcoming transatlantic trade talks with Trump’s America, Johnson insisted: “We have the best negotiators in the business and of course, we’re going to drive a hard bargain to boost British industry.
“Trading Scottish smoked salmon for Stetson hats, we will deliver lower prices and more choice for our shoppers.
“Most importantly, this transatlantic trade deal will reflect the unique closeness of our two great nations.”
Ministers will publish their negotiation mandate with the US today following lengthy speculation about what it will contain. Downing Street has said the NHS will not be up for grabs through the desired free trade agreement, but it is not known what will happen with food standards.
Scottish ministers are amongst those to have urged the UK Government not to lower existing standards and to oppose the import of chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef.
READ MORE: SNP to vote against ‘power grab’ post-Brexit Agriculture Bill
READ MORE: Farming leader in warning over ‘morally bankrupt’ Brexit trade deals
Environment Secretary George Eustice refused to rule that out last week.
The talks will take place in parallel alongside the bartering with the European Union over a post-Brexit relationship.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, has said the government should be “focused on getting a good trade deal with the EU, not cosying up to Donald Trump”.
She went on: “A bad trade deal with the US will put working people’s jobs and rights on the line. And it will undermine our vital public services, environment and food standards.
“Nobody voted for chlorinated chicken or for US corporations to have more access to our personal data.”
But the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said a great deal of its members were “enthusiastic” about the prospect of closer trading ties with such a major economy.
Johnson’s statement comes after Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers Union (NFU), called a senior Westminster advisor “completely out of touch” on food production and agriculture.
In leaked emails seen by the Mail on Sunday, Dr Tim Leunig reportedly said the food sector was “not critically important” to the country’s economy – and agriculture and fisheries “certainly isn’t”.
Leunig, an economic advisor to new Chancellor Rishi Sunak, is said to be close to Johnson spin doctor Dominic Cummings.
A UK Government spokesperson said the comments “are not in line with government policy”.
Batters told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday the UK has a “moral imperative” to produce food, stating: “We need our farmers and we’re the bedrock of the largest manufacturing sector providing all those raw ingredients and currently at 60% self-sufficiency.”
Batters said Britain can be “global leaders” in eco-friendly farming, adding: “There’s a real opportunity for this government to lead based on standards, integrity, and actually putting farmers at the forefront of delivering on climate change.”
The agriculture and fishing sectors represent fewer than 1% of the UK’s economy respectively.
However, rural and coastal communities voted for Brexit in large numbers during the 2016 referendum after the Vote Leave campaign argued that farmers and fishermen would would be better off once free of EU rules.
Fishermen also fear promises made to them on increased catch quotas and controlling who fishes in British waters could be traded in exchange for market access during the crucial talks with the EU on what will happen on January 1 next year.
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