John Longworth and IDS are at it again. They wrote an article in The Telegraph yesterday (HERE behind a paywall) that The Express have now picked up on (HERE). The terrible two pushed back against an earlier article by Peter Foster, the Telegraph's perfectly reasonable Europe editor, that set out ten serious questions on Brexit to which we had no answers. To ward off the risk of anybody having second thoughts, Longworth and IDS poo-pooed the very idea that there were any problems or difficulties at all.
One of the questions was about a trade deal with the USA and having to import chlorine washed chicken and hormone fed beef. They try to soften us up to accept this in return for a trade deal.
"... they said establishing a trade deal with the US is vital, despite concerns about chlorinated beef and chicken arriving to UK's supermarkets, which the Brexiteers labelled as "typical objections".
They wrote: "Consider the typical objections. Firstly, we all consume chlorinated water every day in our tea or coffee or just from the tap, (or even in the public swimming pools).
"We eat bagged salads washed in chlorinated water. Interestingly, millions of British citizens have holidayed in the USA and happily eaten their chicken and beef, with no ill effects".
I'm not sure where "chlorinated beef" comes from, I think it's more the hormones they're fed.
The problem for Longworth and IDS is twofold. Firstly, I'm not convinced everybody will be quite as relaxed about it as they are, even though it's safe. Secondly, and more importantly it's not about the safety of these products it's about animal welfare, something they seem unaware of. The Americans have to wash chickens in chlorine because of the appalling conditions they're kept in. It's this that people will object to.
Gove has already said we won't accept those products but if we want a trade deal we will have no choice. This will be the big stumbling block - but we will be so desperate for a trade deal we'll have to accept it. And then to compete, our farmers will have to do the same and so the downward spiral of lower and lower standards begins.
This is precisely the reason why the EU have rules. When the competition is only on price, quality and standards are forced down. IDS and Longworth will say people have a choice and to an extent this is true, but I'm not sure this is a path we want to go down.
