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Boris Johnson has been warned that the opportunities of Brexit are at stake amid a major Cabinet row over the Australia free trade deal.
Ahead of a crunch meeting tomorrow, senior ministers are split over the issue of granting Australian farmers zero-tariff access, amid fears that lamb and beef imports could harm the British farming industry.
George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, is fighting to extend a transition period – during which tariffs would gradually reduce to zero – from 10 to 15 years in order to shield British farmers and give them more time to adjust.
He is also said to favour maintaining tariff rate quotas, which would only allow a certain quantity of Australian imports to benefit from lower tariffs.
He is backed Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, along with Scottish Secretary Alister Jack and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart, who fear a backlash from Scottish beef and Welsh lamb farmers.
However, allies of Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, have hit back at Mr Eustice, claiming that a failure to agree terms could scupper future deals with the US and other major economies, in turn squandering the opportunities of Brexit.
One source questioned why Mr Eustice had voted to leave the EU if he intended to resort to protectionism, while another accused him and Mr Gove in The Sun of being “more Waitrose than Redwall.”
Ms Truss is backed by Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator and minister in charge of EU relations, as well as Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, who warned that a failure to strike an agreement with Australia would make other deals “very challenging.”
The Prime Minister is said to side with Ms Truss on the issue, but will be forced to try and broker a compromise on Thursday when the Cabinet committee in charge of trade deals meet.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been warned there could be “unrest” in Bolton if the Government brings in local lockdowns to contain the Indian variant.
David Greenhalgh, Conservative leader at Bolton Council, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve been there before and they don’t work – not in a dense conurbation like Greater Manchester.
“This happened before, the spread increased because people travelled 50 yards across the county boundary to access hospitality that they can’t in their own area.”
Asked if he had told Mr Hancock there would be civil unrest, he said: “I do think there is a danger of unrest.
“There is a great deal of resentment. Bolton was…we were disproportionately affected really since July last year.
“Even when our rates were coming down, we still remained in lockdown when other areas’ rates were higher than ours, so there was a build up of resentment.”
