Argyll and Bute’s MP has called for greater scrutiny of the new trade deal with Australia.
Brendan O’Hara has said the UK government must put the needs of Scottish farmers first by focussing on tariff-free trade with the EU, its biggest and closest market, before ploughing ahead with a ‘rushed’ deal with Australia which could see the UK flooded with cheap beef, lamb and dairy.
Challenging the Trade Secretary Liz Truss in the House of Commons this week, Mr O’Hara said: “Argyll and Bute overwhelmingly rejected Brexit because we knew what it would do to our shellfish and farming industries.
“Now we find that 35,000 tonnes of beef and 25,000 tonnes of lamb are about to enter the UK, tariff-free
” Australian farmers are openly celebrating this deal, while farmers across Scotland are understandably furious at this sell-out of their industry.”
The local MP asked Ms Truss to explain to the farming community in Argyll and Bute why they too should be celebrating this deal and how – in the words of the Prime Minister – the UK market being flooded with cheap, factory-farmed, inferior produced, meat was ‘a golden opportunity’ for them?
She responded by saying: “I think the hon. Gentleman’s farmers deserve better than the ludicrous scaremongering that he has been putting forward.”
Earlier she told the House: “We have agreed a truly historic deal, which is the first negotiated from scratch by the United Kingdom since leaving the European Union.
“This gold-standard agreement shows what the UK is capable of as a sovereign trading nation: securing huge benefits such as zero-tariff access to Australia for all British goods and world-leading provisions for digital and services, while making it easier for Brits to live and work in Australia.”
Mr O’Hara said afterwards that an open letter sent to the Trade Secretary last week by Scotland’s farming, fishing and food and drink producers, including Scotland Food & Drink, NFU Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland, the Scottish Seafood Association, and the Road Haulage Association amongst others, exemplified the concern and exasperation within the industry that its needs are being sidelined.
He said: “It is clear the UK government needs to sort out the UK’s trading relationship with the EU as quickly as possible.
“As the letter states, “the EU market remains the most important export market, with it being the destination for two thirds of all food exports… A top priority must be to reduce the scale of non-tariff barriers that have been introduced between the UK and EU…”
Mr O’Hara added: “As if this wasn’t enough a report out today (Friday) compiled by the British Food & Drink Federation following analysis of HMRC data, shows UK food and drink exports to the EU fell by £2bn in the first three months of 2021.
“When will the UK Government actually stop and listen to those in the industry who know best and focus on sorting this rather than galloping ahead to sign deals which will see the UK flooded with cheap beef and lamb from the other side of the world, to the detriment of Scotland’s farmers?”
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