TORIES’ WORTHLESS RHETORIC ON FOOD STANDARDS

I have recently been inundated with emails from constituents who are concerned about the risk Brexit poses to our food standards, with a post-Brexit trade deal with the USA threatening the importation of chlorinated chicken and hormone injected beef, undercutting British farmers and also posing risks to the health of consumers.

Recently, I raised these concerns with the Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, and called on her to guarantee in law current UK food standards. At the time, the Secretary of State claimed that these standards were already enshrined in law, yet last week, the Tories voted down an amendment to the Agriculture Bill which would have safeguarded food standards in trade deals. This clearly shows that their promises on food standards are completely and utterly worthless, despite the fact that the promises to do so were included in their election manifesto. As for her insistence that Scotland already has powers over food standards, these powers are extremely limited and, like so many powers of the Scottish Parliament, are at real risk due to the terms of the Internal Market Bill which threatens a race to the bottom for our farmers, animal welfare and our health.

Watch the exchange below.