Oh Liam. I can’t decide whether our trade secretary is a law unto himself, or just the unfortunate embodiment of the total lack of joined up government thinking around Brexit.
Dr Fox was back in the headlines last night after he told a House of Commons committee that he saw no reason why the British public shouldn’t eat chlorinated chicken from the US, almost going so far as to suggest we’d all be better off eating American imports than the campylobacter-riddled poultry on our own supermarket shelves.
Each to their own, I guess. Except his Cabinet buddy Michael Gove has already acknowledged some very good reasons why the British public shouldn’t be eating chlorinated chicken from the US – not least the devastating impact that lowering import standards would have on UK producers.
In fact, our environment secretary feels so strongly about the issue that he ruled out the prospect of chlorinated chickens altogether in July, insisting all members of the government had agreed the UK was not going to dilute its high animal welfare and environmental standards in pursuit of any trade deal.
Perhaps they have, and they just forgot to send the memo to the trade minister. Or maybe Fox is wilfully ignoring his peers in search of US trade deal glory – just as he completely ignored the warnings of fellow WTO members over the UK and EU’s proposed arrangement around splitting agrifood quotas post-Brexit.
Either way, what Fox seems to have forgotten as he ploughs ahead in apparent defiance of party policy (unless Gove was the rogue, because, really, who knows what the government is thinking?) is that the great British public – whom he is meant to represent - have made it very clear they absolutely do not want to see chlorinated chicken on the dinner table.
A poll by The Grocer in April found that two-thirds of Brits were worried about chlorine-washed chicken, with 37% saying nothing would convince them to eat it – not even lower prices or scientific proof it was safe. And it’s not just chlorine-washing – 60% would also reject hormone-treated beef, while 45% don’t want to see more GM food in the UK.
What’s more, the vast majority (75%) of Brits think the UK should maintain its current food safety standards after Brexit, with just 15% stating the UK’s departure from Europe was an opportunity to embrace “modern” food production methods like those used in the US.
That total rejection of any compromise on UK food safety standards post-Brexit is why the British media are so “obsessed” with chlorinated chicken, Liam, and you’d do well to listen to what the people want. Being a politician and all.
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