Nigel Farage says Britain should accept US chlorine-washed chicken as part of a Trump trade deal – and ‘re-examine’ how the NHS is paid for_nhy
Nigel Farage today suggested the UK should accept low-quality, chlorine-washed US chicken as the price of doing a trade deal with Donald Trump‘s America.
The Reform leader, who has recently positioned himself as a champion of British farmers, suggested that consumers should be allowed to decide whether they want to buy cheap imported meat.
Fears have long been raised about the standard of chicken imported from US farms and slaughterhouses, where chlorine is used to wash carcasses and destroy bacteria like salmonella.
Critics say the process covers up poor hygiene processes elsewhere in the food chain that allows producers to keep prices low – undercutting UK producers – and is also not always effective.
UK governments, Labour and Conservative, have consistently ruled out accepting the birds as part of any US-Uk trade deal after Brexit.
Ministers are currently in talks with Washington over a deal, amid a wave of tariffs Trump has installed, including on imports of UK cars.
Asked what he would to to get a deal with his ally Trump, Mr Farage told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the president ‘would want US agricultural products to be sold in Britain’.
The politician, who has appeared repeatedly at recent protests by UK farmers against plans to make them play inheritance tax, added: ‘Now there’s been some concern about chlorine-treated chicken etc, but there is an answer to that which is label things, let consumers decide.
The Reform leader, who has recently positioned himself as a champion of British farmers, suggested that consumers should be allowed to decide whether they want to buy cheap imported meat.
Critics say the process covers up poor hygiene processes elsewhere in the food chain that allows producers to keep prices low – undercutting UK producers – and is also not always effective.
Asked what he would to to get a deal with his ally Trump, Mr Farage told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the president ‘would want US agricultural products to be sold in Britain’.
‘So I think this shouldn’t be just about avoiding tariffs, it should be a broader deal.’
Asked directly whether he was in favour of allowing chlorine-treated chicken to be sold in the UK, he said: ‘I would allow consumers in America to buy our products and consumers here to buy their products, and provided we have the right labelling, that’s good.’
Last night four farming unions issued a joint plea for the government to must stand up for UK agriculture in any trade negotiations with the US.
In a joint statement, they said: ‘Absolutely no one wants to see hormone treated beef, or pork or chicken treated with anti-microbial washes – which are banned here in the UK – sold on our market.
‘Those ways of production were banned in the 80s and 90s for a reason. They don’t reflect our values and the farm to fork approach we are proud of in the UK, something we know the British people care deeply about.
‘Yes, the world is changing. But this is no time for a knee-jerk reaction. We urge the government to honour the commitments it has repeatedly made both to farmers and the public – that it will protect the safety, animal welfare and environmental standards which are at the heart of UK food, and not allow it to be undermined by shoddy trade deals.’
And Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, added: ‘It looks like Nigel Farage has had the full indoctrination at Mar-a-Lago. No one in this country wants chlorinated chicken on our supermarket shelves.
‘Farage wants to sell out our hard-working British farmers for a grubby trade deal that wouldn’t protect us from Trump’s damaging tariffs. He’s more interested in being a salesman for Trump than standing up for Britain and our rural communities.’
In a wide-ranging interview the Reform leader also said Britain should ‘re-examine the whole funding model’ for the NHS, but insisted he supported healthcare being free at the point of use.
With local elections and a crucial by-election test in Runcorn and Helsby looming, Labour has sought to go on the offensive against Mr Farage over his stance on NHS funding.
With local elections and a crucial by-election test in Runcorn and Helsby looming, Labour has sought to go on the offensive against Mr Farage over his stance on NHS funding.
In a series of attack ads launched on Friday, the party has pointed to previous comments by the Reform leader advocating for a change, including one from 2012 in which he said: ‘I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care.’
Asked about previous comments, Mr Farage told Today: ‘I’m not asking people to pay to go to the doctor, we have never said anything other than healthcare should be provided free at the point of delivery.’
Saying people should have health insurance ‘only if they can afford it’, he added: ‘At the moment, they pay for their healthcare through taxes.
‘Is there a better way of doing this? And what is interesting is actually Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has been saying very similar things.
‘Everyone knows we are not getting bang for buck, everyone knows we are not getting value, let’s re-examine the whole funding model and find a way that’s more efficient.’
