No 10 has refused to rule out the possibility that hormone-injected beef will be exported from Australia to the UK as part of a free trade deal between the countries.
The prime minister’s spokesperson did not give a commitment on the issue, simply saying that the UK will not “compromise on our animal welfare or food standards” and that imported produce will need to “comply with our import requirements”.
This comes amid reports that Boris Johnson’s government is ready to offer Australia a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade deal – despite opposition from cabinet ministers and British farmers’ fears of ruin from cheap meat imports.
The prime minister is believed to have given his international trade secretary Liz Truss the go-ahead for a free trade agreement, with the goal of inking a deal in time for next month’s G7 summit in Cornwall.
Meanwhile, ministers have been accused of a “shocking” lack of knowledge about Northern Ireland following the UK’s Brexit agreement with the EU.
Labour claimed the government had failed to understand protocol arrangements contained in Mr Johnson’s deal. It follows an admission by Brexit minister David Frost that No 10 had failed to secure the agreement it wanted for Northern Ireland.
Opinion: Craven Tory attacks on BBC will have chilling effect on its journalism
Tory ministers are lining up to criticise the BBC in an attempt to benefit from their continued culture wars, writes Sean O’Grady.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden and justice minister Robert Buckland are among those who have called for reform at the broadcaster, after a report found that Martin Bashir had secured his landmark interview with Princess Diana deceitfully.
As O’Grady points out, no amount of regulation “will protect any organisation from a rogue individual”.
Instead of admitting this reality, the government has made use of the false narrative that the BBC is left-leaning, according to O’Grady. “They are using the Bashir scandal to fight and win another battle in their culture wars, and neuter an organisation powerful and respected enough to hold them to account,” he writes.
Foster will decide when to step down as NI first minister, Poots insists
The recently-elected DUP leader Edwin Poots has suggested he will not make Arlene Foster leave her role as first minister before the end of June.
Reports had suggested that she could be forced out of her job earlier than anticipated. In response, the former DUP leader Peter Robinson said: “Having left her humiliated, they now want to leave her as roadkill.”
Speaking in County Tyrone on Friday, Mr Poots should Ms Foster would decide when to leave office. “She’s under absolutely no pressure from me to do otherwise,” he said.
The environment minister has confirmed that he will appoint a colleague to be first minister and will not assume the position himself.
No signs England will have to ‘deviate’ from road map, PM says
The prime minister has expressed his optimism that he will not have “deviate” from England’s road map out of lockdown.
The next stage of lockdown easing – due on 21 June – has been called into question because of the spread of the B.1.617.2 variant.
Speaking on Friday, Boris Johnson said: “We will be letting everybody know exactly what sort of arrangements to expect for June 21.
“But what I can tell you, and just to stress that I am still seeing nothing in the data that leads me to think that we’re going to have to deviate from the road map – obviously we must remain cautious but I’m seeing nothing that makes me think we have to deviate.”
He added that “Covid status” certificates would not be needed “to go into pubs or anything else”.
Downing Street plays down cabinet reshuffle speculation
No 10 has played down reports that Boris Johnson plans to announce a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday.
The shake-up will deliberately coincide with Dominic Cumming’s long-awaited appearance from a committee of MPs so as to dilute its impact, a senior minister told the BBC.
Earlier this week, the former aide said he would expose a “crucial historical document” showing the government’s decision-making during the first coronavirus wave. The threat follows his description of the plan as “part disaster, part non-existent”.
A Downing Street spokesperson declined to confirm or deny that there would be a cabinet reshuffle. “It’s not something that we would comment on,” they said.
Sky News’ Sam Coates later tweeted that the government had dismissed the speculation as “total rubbish”.
Government blasted over free trade deal promise to farmers
A video has been circulating widely on social media of cabinet minister Michael Gove promising that post-Brexit trade deals would not undercut British animal welfare standards.
This comes as a potential Australia trade deal threatens to ignore this promise.
In the clip, the then environmental secretary tells BBC Countryfile: “There is no point in having high environmental and high animal welfare standards if you then allow them to be undercut from outside.”
He added that to do so would mean “you’re simply offshoring those low standards and that’s wrong”.
Alastair Campbell, the former Labour strategist, retweeted the video, saying it was illustrative of a government that is “destroying a country value by value, sector by sector, lie by lie”.
Hormone-injected beef could be imported under Australia deal
Downing Street has refused to rule out the possibility that hormone-injected beef will be exported from Australia to the UK as part of a free trade deal between the countries.
Although the prime minister’s spokesperson maintained that the UK will not “compromise on our animal welfare or food standards”, they declined to give a commitment on the use of hormones.
They added that food would be allowed into the country as long as it complies “with our import requirements”, which were not specified.
Free trade deals present ‘fantastic opportunity for our farmers’, claims Johnson
The prime minister has claimed that British farmers will prosper under new free trade deals, despite the farming sector’s outcry over the reported terms of an imminent agreement with Australia.
After saying he wanted “a global future” for the UK, Boris Johnson added: “I do think that free trade deals present a fantastic opportunity for our farmers, for businesses of all kinds and for manufacturers.
“I think it is vital that as a great historic free-trading nation that grew to prosperity thanks to free trade and thanks indeed to the Royal Navy, that we see these new openings not as threats but as opportunities.”
The British farming sector, however, is fearful that a tariff-free deal with Australia on beef and lamb exports would give Australian farmers an unfair advantage because of the scale of their farms and their lower environmental standards.
Joblessness soars in hard-hit UK tourist destinations
Joblessness has soared in some of the UK’s tourist hotspots, Labour has warned.
The party released a dossier showing that the 20 areas with most tourism jobs had recorded an average 150 per cent increase in benefits claims during the pandemic, 41 per cent higher than the national average.
The worst-affected places include the Scottish ski and hiking resort of Aviemore and the popular English town of Dartmouth in Devon.
Seema Malhotra, the shadow business minister, said that businesses “saddled with debt” will not simply bounce back in these areas.
“The government must provide businesses with a fair repayment scheme based on the amount they’re making, or risk more people falling out of work and further damage to local economies reliant on trade from tourists,” she said.
PM calls on BBC to change after report on Bashir’s Diana interview
Boris Johnson has called on the BBC to change after the publication of a damning reporting into how Martin Bashir secured his famous interview with Princess Diana.
Speaking to reporters in Portsmouth, the prime minister said he was “obviously very concerned” by Lord Dyson’s report.
“I can only image the feelings of the royal family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” he added.
Australia deal would harm Northern Ireland, says incoming DUP leader
A tariff-free trade deal between the UK and Australia would damage Northern Irish farming, the incoming leader of the DUP has said.
Edwin Poots, who will soon take over from Arlene Foster, said he strongly opposed the proposal.
In a letter to the British environment secretary George Eustice, he wrote: “Australia has a number of distinct advantages over Northern Ireland, and the rest of the UK, in terms of the land available for farming, climate and lower standards, that allows its farmers to be able produce at a considerably lower cost, particularly in the beef and sheep sectors.
“Consequently there is a lot of potential for Australian beef and sheep exports to the UK to expand substantially over time if tariffs are eliminated.
“Australian beef and sheep products have the potential to undercut UK producers and to reduce Northern Ireland’s market share in GB which is our most important market for these products.”
The DUP politician added that if the deal goes ahead, it would set a precedent for agreements with other major exporting countries.
