Ian Blackford has claimed Scottish Secretary Alister Jack should fight back or resign over a “damaging” free trade deal with Australia which would threaten the future of Scottish farmers.
The SNP's Westminster leader said Scotland’s farmers and crofters would be disproportionately affected by such a deal, with the country’s beef, dairy, sheep and grain sectors particularly at risk.
UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has held talks with her Australian counterpart as the two countries edged closer to a free trade deal amid rising concern among British farmers that full liberalisation would see them severely undercut by their Australian rivals.
READ MORE: Gaelic policy in Scotland will soon outlive Gaelic communities, experts warn
The call took place after ministers met on Thursday to thrash out their differences, with UK Environment Secretary George Eustice and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove leading the resistance to a zero tariffs, zero quotas agreement which the Australians are demanding.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the proposed deal threatens to put Scottish farmers out of business (Isabel Infantes/PA)
In a letter to Mr Jack on Saturday, Mr Blackford said: “The continued uncertainty surrounding the prospect of your government signing up to a post-Brexit trade deal, which would grant tariff free access to Australian farmers, is a source of deep and growing concern for our own farming and crofting communities.
“This morning’s speculation of a UK Government offer to phase in a zero-tariff, zero quota regime over a number of years could, in effect, place a time limit on the future of farming livelihoods across these islands.
“Given that this speculated offer is currently only a negotiating position, the real threat exists that an already disastrous deal for farmers can only get worse.
“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.
“As you should know, Scotland’s farmers and crofters would be disproportionately impacted by such a damaging deal, with our beef, dairy, sheep and grain sectors particularly at risk. There is also the added concern that a deal of this nature will set a precedent for other trade deals, which would further harm our agricultural sector.”
Downing Street has indicated that Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes an agreement can be concluded by the time of the G7 summit in Cornwall next month.
Mr Blackford urged Mr Jack to “stand by Scotland’s farmers and crofters and robustly oppose a deal that threatens to put them out of business”.
He wrote: “I urge you to break your deafening silence on this crucial issue and fight back against this damaging deal.
READ MORE: Scotland sending life saving equipment to India as part of UK-wide effort to aid Covid crisis
“That means opposing any trade deal that will, at any future point, grant tariff-free, zero quota access to Australian lamb and beef.
“Given the seriousness and scale of this issue for Scotland’s farmers and crofters, it is also clear that your only credible option is to make clear that this is a resigning matter should your views be ignored in Cabinet.”
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “Any deal we sign with Australia will include protections for the agriculture industry and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards.
“Typically, any tariff liberalisation is staged over time, with safeguards built in. Australian meat accounts for a very low proportion of total UK imports, and is produced to high standards.
“We will continue to work with the industry, keeping them involved throughout the process and helping it capture the full benefits of trade.”
A UK Government source added: “It is clear from Ian Blackford’s increasingly embarrassing interventions he has no interest in engaging seriously on the issue of trade deals.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel