CONSERVATIVE minister Liz Truss has said British farmers have nothing to fear and an “awful lot to gain” from a free trade deal with Australia.

The UK Government is hoping to secure agreement in principle on its first trade deal to be negotiated from scratch since leaving the EU, ahead of next month’s G7 summit in Cornwall.

However, ministers face a backlash from UK farmers who fear the zero tariffs, zero quotas deal that the government in Canberra is demanding would see them undercut by Australian rivals.

In particular, there are fears that smaller beef and lamb producers in Scotland and Wales will be unable to compete with the typically much larger Australian farms.

On Monday, May 17, deputy first minister John Swinney expressed his opposition, arguing: “This proposed deal is a huge threat to Scottish agriculture.

"It will devastate the hill farming communities I represent and no self-respecting UK Government could sign this.”

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The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford added: “This would be devastating for farming and crofting. I shudder to think of the impact on crofting communities."

However, Truss - the International Trade Secretary - said that a deal with Australia was a first step towards joining the wider Trans-Pacific Partnership, unlocking the expanding Asia markets for British producers.

“British farmers have absolutely nothing to fear from this deal at all. In fact, we’ve got an awful lot to gain, particularly from the wider opportunities in the Asia Pacific area,” she told The Sun on Sunday.

Truss added: “That’s where demand for beef and lamb is expected to rise significantly over the next 10 years and we are gaining more access to those markets. This is where the big opportunities lie.

“I’m absolutely confident the deal we strike will enable our farmers to compete successfully.”

Officials have stressed that any changes to the tariff regime would be phased in over a period of up to 15 years, giving farmers time to adapt to the new trading conditions.

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However, that has done little to allay the concerns of farmers who fear they could be wiped out if there is complete trade liberalisation.

The president of the National Farmers’ Union has been among those criticising the UK Government’s approach to the deal.

Minette Batters argued farmers in the UK could not compete with their Australian counterparts and their “massive feedlots and soulless ranches” on a zero-tariff basis.

She wrote: “The Government says it wants to ‘level up’ Britain. But this can never be achieved by throwing our family farms under the bus.”

Both Environment Secretary George Eustice and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who is concerned it could fuel demands for Scottish and Welsh independence, expressed opposition.

However, the deadlock in Government was finally broken at a meeting last week of senior ministers when Boris Johnson came down in favour of the deal.