Jacob King/PA
National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters has taken a swipe at former prime minister Boris Johnson for adopting a “morally bankrupt” position during post-Brexit trade talks with the US.
Despite promising not to compromise on Britain’s high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards during the 2019 general election, Johnson ripped up the rule book during failed trade talks with Donald Trump, which could have had a significant impact on the safety and quality of food we eat.
At one point, the government proposed that chlorine-washed chicken, beef treated with growth hormones, pork from animals injected with a drug that makes their meat leaner, called ractopamine, and scores of other foods produced in the United States by dangerous could have been on the cards.
UK farmers, meanwhile, who adhere to higher standards, could have been left out in the cold as the market got swamped by cheap produce.
Speaking at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham, Batters took aim at Johnson over the move, calling it “morally bankrupt”.
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