London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

‘Irresponsible’ Australia trade deal will bring ruin for UK farmers, critics warn

‘Irresponsible’ Australia trade deal will bring ruin for UK farmers, critics warn

Scottish National party says tariff-free imports of hormone-treated beef ‘would represent a bitter betrayal of rural communities’

The UK government was facing a backlash on Saturday over its plans for a trade deal with Australia, which have led to anger from farmers and environmentalists and calls for the Scottish secretary to resign.

Farming unions said that proposals for a zero-tariff and zero-quota trade deal would drive farmers out of business, while green groups said allowing Australian hormone-treated beef would breach the Conservatives’ manifesto commitments.

The Scottish National party added to the clamour for a rethink by calling on Alister Jack, the secretary of state for Scotland, to “fight back or resign” if he failed to stand up for farmers.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader in Westminster, wrote to Jack, saying the deal would “place a time limit on the future of farming livelihoods across these islands”, and would also disproportionately affect Scottish farmers and crofters.

“Such a trade deal would represent a bitter betrayal of rural communities, undermining and undercutting our agricultural sector and would amount to a genuine threat to future viability,” Blackford wrote. If Jack’s views are ignored by the cabinet, Blackford wrote, then “your only credible option is to make clear that this is a resigning matter”.

Opponents of Scottish independence fear that the row over farming may fuel support for a new referendum in rural areas where there has previously been pro-union support.

Farming leaders were taken by surprise by news that Liz Truss, the trade secretary, would offer her counterpart in Canberra a deal with a 15-year transition period leading to unfettered free trade, without protections that farmers had asked for.

Ministers are aiming to have the deal signed before the G7 summit in Cornwall on 11 June.

Minette Batters, the National Farmers’ Union president, said it was “incredibly disappointing” that the government had not told farmers about the “wholly irresponsible” proposals, and that it should provide details urgently.

“It is also incredibly concerning that the government is in a ‘sprint’ to sign up to a trade deal with Australia that would have serious implications for British farming and would seemingly offer very little benefit to the economy,” she said.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) estimates that UK GDP will grow by 0.025% over the next 15 years as a result of a deal.

Batters added: “The prime minister and his government have pledged to level up the country. Agreeing to a tariff-free trade deal with a major agricultural exporter, with no safeguards or review mechanisms, would do exactly the opposite of that commitment and set swaths of rural Britain backwards.”

Secretary of state for international trade Liz Truss with Australian trade minister Dan Tehan.


Truss held talks with Dan Tehan, Australia’s minister for trade, and is thought to have outlined the UK proposal to him. She won the prime minister’s support during a cabinet meeting on Thursday after apparently outmanoeuvring the environment secretary George Eustice and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove.

Last year, environmental groups and farmers spent months lobbying ministers and emphasising that trade deals should not compromise food standards or animal welfare. In November, Eustice and Truss made a joint pledge not to allow imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken as part of any trade deal.

Australian farmers are allowed to use hormones to make cattle grow bigger, and as a result their meat is subject to an import ban by the EU.

Tanya Steele, the chief executive of WWF, warned the government not to forget its obligations on climate ahead of the Cop26 summit later this year.

“Rushing to align ourselves with the laggards on climate and nature – without guarantees to uphold core standards – invites lower standards of production on to our shelves, and risks exporting our environmental footprint rather than reducing it,” she said.

Supporters of the trade proposal, such as the Conservative peer Daniel Hannan, have raised the prospect that farmers will receive subsidies for maintaining the countryside. Not all farmers are enthusiastic about the idea of changing their role from food producers to park wardens.

Tim Bonner, the chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said that the government expected farmers to manage the countryside and tackle the climate crisis, but farms needed to be profitable to do this.

“If trade deals increase competition and therefore reduce commodity prices over time, then farmers will require additional support and compensation to deliver the public goods which are critical to meeting government targets,” he said.

A DIT spokesperson said: “We keep farmers and senior figures from across industry closely involved throughout all trade negotiations.

“The trade secretary talked with the NFU this week, and ministers also met with farming representative organisations, including NFU Scotland, to discuss the Australia FTA.

“An Australia deal would open up export opportunities for our farmers and include protections for the agriculture industry, while also ensuring farmers are not undercut and the high standards we have in place are not compromised.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×