Scottish farmers could be knocked out of business by a Brexit trade deal would allow cheap Australian lamb and beef to be imported into the UK.
Boris Johnson’s cabinet Ministers are reportedly split over whether to sign off on a trade deal with Australia which would potentially grant tariff-free access to Australian farmers.
Scottish farmers raising stock on marginal land are likely to be hit hardest by zero-tariff imports of Australian meat.
UK government ministers are under pressure to sign a Brexit trade deal with Australia before the G7 summit Cornwall next month, to which Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been invited.
But with the SNP breathing down their necks some cabinet Ministers, led by Scot Michael Gove and Environment Secretary George Eustice, are digging in against the deal because of the implications for the Union.
John Swinney, deputy leader of the SNP tweeted: “This proposed deal is a huge threat to Scottish agriculture. It will devastate the hill farming communities I represent and no self-respecting UK Government could sign this.”
Ian Blackford MP, the SNP Westminster leader, whose Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency covers many parts of the crofting counties, also joined in the criticism.
He said: “This would be devastating for farming and crofting. I shudder to think of the impact on crofting communities.”
Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow International Trade Secretary, said: “It’s perfectly normal that the Australian government should try to get the best possible deal for its agricultural mega-corporations. But British family farmers have a right to expect that Liz Truss will do the same for them, not sell out their livelihoods for the price of a quick trade deal, and a cheap headline at the G7 summit.”
Appearing on tv broadcast rounds on Tuesday morning, UK Environment Secretary George Eustice stressed there was a “balance to be struck” in trade deals.
He said: “We think there’s great opportunities, we’re very keen for instance to pursue trade agreements with Australia and also with the United States and with other countries as well.
“But always in any trade agreement, yes there’s a balance to be struck between your commercial interests and your desire to open up free markets.”
Whitehall sources said any deal would be phased in over ten years allowing Scottish farmers to adjust to the market.
But National Farmers Union Scotland President Martin Kennedy warned that “employment, the prosperity of rural areas and our high standards should not be jeopardised for the sake of a headline-grabbing deal.”
He said: “Our seafood industry has already been hit hard by Brexit and now Scottish farming is next to be sacrificed - and once again, it’s Scotland’s key industries which will bear the brunt of a Tory Brexit people here didn’t vote for.”
SNP MSP Jim Fairlie, who has experience in the sheep farming sector, said was deeply concerned about what a trade deal would mean for farmers.
“Granting tariff-free access to farming produce would completely betray the promises that have been made by countless Tory ministers and prove that Boris Johnson is willing to sacrifice the interests of Scotland’s farmers and producers to satisfy his Brexiteer cabinet.”
