Thread by @BestForBritain

BREAKING: MPs from all four UK nations demand parliamentary scrutiny of Australia trade deal. @pmdfoster @SebastianEPayne 🔥1/
ft.com/content/3085d7…

We've coordinated a letter to Liz Truss from 24 MPs demanding proper parliamentary scrutiny of the UK-Australia trade deal.

“No one wants to see our farming communities in Wales, Scotland, England & N. Ireland undermined for the sake of a politically expedient trade deal." 2/

The deal's tiny (DIT says it'll boost GDP by £500m over 15yrs, or as @PippaCrerar points out, 0.025%) compared to our main trading partner the EU, which accounts for 51.6% of all UK imports/53% exports.

Which is why it's astounding the govt will risk our farmers over it. 3/

The letter's cross-nation and cross-party support sees it signed by MPs from all political colours, including Conservatives @SirRogerGale & Dr Dan Poulter, Labour MP @hilarybennmp, DUP MP @PaulGirvanMP & the SNP's @drphilippa. 4/

It comes after our latest polling found over 6 in 10 people believe protecting British farmers should take priority over new trade deals with countries such as Australia. Support for farmers was found among a majority of voters of all political parties. 5/
bestforbritain.org/britishfarmers…

The problem's the 2010 Constitutional Reform & Governance Act, which means parliament only gets to scrutinise international treaties once they've been signed. Our system is "a considerable distance from the strongest parliamentary roles internationally," says @Brigid_Fowler. 6/

“This agreement risks setting a precedent ahead of talks with larger markets such as the US, so we must get it right. We need a detailed & objective analysis of how this deal will affect UK businesses, particularly hard-hit sectors such as farming," says @hilarybennmp 7/

“The PM just spent the weekend arguing w/ our closest allies about a treaty he pushed through Parliament w/ limited scrutiny. This highlights the risks of rushing through deals for short-term political gain while failing to understand the long-term consequences.” @hilarybennmp 8/

A major area of concern for the food & drinks industry is what diverging further from EU regulations to open up our market to Australia's could do to exports to the bloc. Current checks already cost up to £1k per lorry load b/c of extra paperwork. 9/

https://twitter.com/UKTradeBusiness/status/1402990815396335623

Witnesses at last week's @UKTradeBusiness warned that if the UK diverged from EU food standards further, for example in trade deals with countries such as Australia, even more burdensome checks could be required in the long-term. 10/

We've just heard this morning that there’ll be a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 yrs and other “safeguards” will be brought in to protect British farmers. These words are meaningless without a proper impact assessment to reassure British farmers. /ENDS

https://twitter.com/adampayne26/status/1404713332473466881