BORIS Johnson is to unveil details of the UK’s first trade deal negotiated after leaving the EU.
The Tory leader will welcome his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, to Downing Street this morning after the two states agreed the broad terms of the pact.
The deal was reportedly sealed by the two premiers over a dinner of Scottish salmon and Welsh lamb in Downing Street last night.
READ MORE: SNP rubbish Alister Jack's claim Australia deal is 'huge opportunity' for Scots
Farmers and crofters in Scotland wrote to the Prime Minister earlier this month warning that the deal threatens their future.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack insisted safeguards will be put in place to stop the market becoming “swamped” with imports.
But former sheep and cattle farmer, SNP MSP Jim Fairlie (below), says the sector fears they will be “severely undercut” by an agreement providing tariff and quota-free access to Australian beef and lamb.
He urged the Prime Minister to listen to warnings from the Scottish and UK chiefs of the National Farmers’ Union, who described the plans as a “serious betrayal”.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, meanwhile, harbours fears that a deal could fuel demands for Scottish and Welsh independence.
The UK Government has estimated the positive impact of the deal on Australia’s gross domestic product – the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year – as being somewhere between 0.01% and 0.06%.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan, who held talks in London earlier this year with International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, has called the pact a “win for jobs, businesses, free trade and highlights what two liberal democracies can achieve while working together”.
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who sits on the UK Board of Trade, told GB News he is confused “that so many people in Britain are always running the country down”.
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