Ex-environment minister slams the ‘failures’ of UK-Australia Brexit deal
The UK’s free trade deal with Australia was a bad agreement for Britain country as the pact “gave away far too much for far too little in return,” according to former environment secretary George Eustice.
In a heavy-hitting speech in the House of Commons, Eustice blamed Liz Truss – who was international trade secretary at the time of negotiations – for providing too many concessions for Australian and New Zealander farmers.
He said it had not been necessary for the UK to offer them full liberalisation for beef and sheep, as “neither Australia nor New Zealand had anything to offer in return for such a grand concession”.
He accused Truss of setting arbitrary targets to conclude terms by the time of the G7 summit in 2021, and revealed “from that moment the UK was on the back foot repeatedly.”
The ex-minister did recognise some progress had been achieved with the deal, such as agricultural safeguards, but that the breakthroughs were insufficient compared to the concessions and came only from his department.
He said: “It’s no surprise that many of these areas were areas negotiated either exclusively or predominantly by Defra on behalf of the UK team.”
The deal was signed in December last year, with Truss promoted to foreign secretary three months prior, and hailed at the time by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson as one of Brexit’s great successes.
We must learn from Australia deal, says Eustice
George Eustice was a firm backer of Brexit and had been environment secretary while the deal was being negotiated – before later being sacked by Truss when she took office for her fleeting stint as Prime Minister two months ago.
He explained that, as a backbencher, he no longer felt obliged to put a “positive gloss” on what was achieved.
Eustice said: “Unless we recognise the failures that the Department for International Trade made during the Australia negotiations, we won’t be able to learn the lessons of future negotiations.”
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s Shadow International Trade Secretary, slammed the deal following Eustice’s dramatic revelations.
He said: “He is right to condemn this Government’s approach. On trade the Conservatives have no strategy and they are – badly – letting down the UK, which will cost jobs, investment and growth. We can’t afford this Government any longer and need a General Election now.”
A source close to serving trade secretary Kemi Badenoch pushed back against Eustice’s criticisms of the deal.
It told City PM: “The deal we’ve done with Australia – which was collectively agreed to by a Cabinet that included George Eustice himself – is set to unlock more than £10bn of trade.
“Australia and NZ have huge markets in Asia and do not use their tariff-free allocations. The former EFRA secretary is mistaken in his attack – this deal will not damage British farming”.