Gove admits Tory trade deals failed to protect UK farmers

Former Defra secretary Michael Gove has admitted for the first time that the Australian trade deal negotiated by the previous Conservative government did not adequately protect UK farmers.

The  controversial agreement granted unfettered access to the UK market for beef and sheep 15 years after it was signed, in 2021, and lifted all restrictions on dairy and sugar imports after six and eight years, respectively.

Another former Defra secretary, George Eustice, strongly criticised the deal in parliament in 2022 after he was sacked by former prime minister Liz Truss.

Mr Gove made the remarks at a Conservative Environment Network event in response to a question from Farmers Weekly about whether he regretted how Brexit had been delivered.

“I can confirm I think we negotiated poorly with Australia, and New Zealand, but particularly with Australia in defence of our farmers,” he told attendees of the event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday (6 October).

“In the anxiety to secure trade deals, we did not think about the long term. Brexit was not principally about trade, and I think it was a mistake for people to regard Brexit’s success on the basis of the number of trade deals that we could stack up.

“Brexit is ultimately about accountability and democratic accountability overall. I felt that we were too anxious as a government to secure those deals in order to show that Brexit was working.”