Labour has confirmed every farm and food firm in Britain will have to follow EU rules under the SPS deal, even if they never sell a single product in the EU. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood asked whether farms and food manufacturers that “do not trade with the EU and only trade within Britain” would be bound. Defra minister Stephen Morgan replied:
“The SPS agreement with the EU means that Great Britain will apply certain rules in line with the EU. These arrangements will apply domestically, whether or not a business trades directly with the EU.”
He then admitted “the precise scope of the agreement remains subject to ongoing negotiations with the EU”. Sign first, ask questions later – the Labour way…Defra’s list of rules in scope runs from food safety and labelling to, marketing standards, pesticides, and biocides. EU rules in this sector have generally been highly restrictive…Alignment is dynamic, so Britain takes on every existing EU regulation plus any future changes Brussels makes to them. Britain’s first place position on gene editing is also at risk, since Labour has not made a carve out one of its red lines. British rule-taking will occur regardless of what stage it is in Burnham’s 10 to 15 year rejoin path…
Robert Jenrick on the Today programme:
“Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile, as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t…”