Daily Mail - 03.03.2020

Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020^ Page 21

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‘Cripes! I seem to have birthdays on my mind at the moment’

Britain could be

served up GM

‘Frankenfood’

in US trade deal

Chlorine

chicken

goes of f

the menu!

By John Stevens

Deputy Political Editor

From Saturday’s Mail

Hero terror police in ‘absurd’ crash probe

By Rebecca Camber

Chief Crime Correspondent

GENETICALLY modified

foods from America could

end up on British super-

market shelves as part of

a US trade deal.

Ministers yesterday left

open lifting the ban on prod-

ucts made from GM crops as

their red lines were unveiled

for negotiations.

In a 184-page document set-

ting out objectives, the Govern-

ment categorically ruled out

the NHS from trade talks.

It stated: ‘The NHS will not

be on the table. The price the

NHS pays for drugs will not be

on the table.

‘The services the NHS pro-

vides will not be on the table.

The NHS is not, and never will

be, for sale to the private sector,

whether overseas or domestic.’

However, the negotiating

mandate on food standards was

more ambiguous.

It said: ‘Any agreement will

ensure high standards and pro-

tections for consumers and

workers, and will not compro-

mise on our high environmental

protection, animal welfare and

food standards.’

Officials last night refused to

rule out ditching the GM ban

currently imposed by EU law.

Such a move could prove to

be a key compromise to secure

a deal with the US, where the

majority of processed foods

contain GM ingredients.

The document was revealed

as negotiators yesterday arrived

in Brussels to begin work on an

EU trade deal.

The UK team of 100 officials

led by David Frost started the

first round of talks with a two-

hour meeting with the EU’s

broker Michel Barnier.

They did not shake hands due

to coronavirus fears and wore

lanyards bearing the Union

Flag. A government spokesman

said: ‘The UK will engage con-

structively to reach a Free

Trade Agreement which fully

respects the UK’s political and

regulatory autonomy.’

International Trade Secretary

Liz Truss yesterday insisted the

UK is willing to walk away from

talks with both the US and EU

if the Government does not

agree with what is offered.

She told Sky News: ‘We want a

deal with the EU on Canada-

style terms, if we have to trade

with the EU on Australia-style

terms, we will.

‘Likewise with the US we want

to get a deal as soon as possi-

ble, but we’re certainly not

going to sell out the NHS.

That’s a very clear red line.

‘We’re not going to allow drugs

to cost more on the NHS and

we’re not going to sell out our

food safety and animal welfare

standards. We will walk away in

both cases if it is not a deal that

suits the UK because one of the

key reasons people voted to

leave the EU was to have con-

trol over their own rules.

‘We won’t be told what our

rules and regulations are by the

EU and the US.’

Ministers have already stated

chlorinated chicken will not be

imported from the US.

The Department for Interna-

tional Trade estimated a trade

deal with the US could boost

the UK economy by 0.16 per

cent over the next 15 years.

Miss Truss will today declare

‘Britain is back’ as she addresses

the World Trade Organisation

in Geneva after the country last

month took back its seat at the

table following Brexit.

She will say: ‘The UK will, like

every other sovereign country,

assert its ability to set its own

laws and regulations in line

with our WTO commitments.’

The police watchdog was slammed yester­

day for an ‘absurd’ investigation of two

officers for dangerous driving after one

crashed while racing to a knife attack.

Convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman

stabbed two people on Streatham high

Road, south London on February 2.

he was wearing a fake explosive vest

and was shot dead at the scene. In the

rush to reach him, one officer in a black

BMW crashed into two other motorists.

All three received minor injuries.

A second police driver travelling in con­

voy did not stop at the crash as he consid­

ered it more important to get to the scene

of the attack. But both drivers now face

gross misconduct and dangerous driving

probes. The Metropolitan Police Federa­

tion said the fact the unnamed officers

could lose their jobs when no one was

seriously hurt was a ‘complete joke’.

But the Independent Office for Police

Conduct said it had not taken the decision

to investigate the officers lightly.

Ephraim

Hardcastle

Email: [email protected]

ANDREW retaining his

HRH fuels Harry and

Meghan’s accusation of

double standards. And he

continues to feature in the Court Circular,

the Queen insisting that his birthday was

honoured, as well as his appearance at a

thanksgiving for a former dean of

Windsor. By contrast Harry’s swansong

engagements don’t feature. But it’s not a

snub. He’s told staff not to provide the

information to the official record.

The debate on harry and Meghan’s pro­

tection costs reminds courtiers of An­

drew’s suggestion that, alongside secu­

rity training, royals should be equipped

with guns. After all, the Queen Mother

shot rats with a revolver during the Sec­

ond World War to prepare for Adolf.

Andrew’s idea came to nothing. The com­

pensation bill might have been daunting.

PRINCE Charles constantly asked Hilary

Mantel about the progress of her final

Thomas Cromwell opus. She tells Radio

Times: ‘He would ask how it was coming

along. They must be strange novels for a

future king to read.’ In his remotest

dreams, does the future king yearn for

Henry’s beheading powers?

CARRIe Symonds’s new

PR Sarah Vaughan­

Brown, pictured, was

helpful to Boris and

his fiancee after their

notorious June 2019

shouting match when

a photograph of the

loved­up couple in a

hayfield mysteriously

a p pe ar e d. Wa s i t

taken before or after the domestic spat?

Sarah, then at ITN, confirmed it was

snapped after the plate­smashing row.

JAMES Purnell, £315,000 BBC executive,

seeks London Marathon sponsorship. In

2006, the ex-Labour minister hosted a

party fundraiser where Alastair Campbell

and Cherie Blair autographed a copy of

the Hutton report into the death of Dr

David Kelly. It secured £400, though Tony

Blair later had to answer questions about

it in the Commons on grounds of taste.

Neither Mrs Blair nor Campbell have

contributed to the marathon bid so far.

ANDReW Neil points out that after 38­

year­old Pete Buttigieg’s departure from

the Democratic presidential race, Donald

Trump at 73 is now the youngest male

candidate left, with Joe Biden aged 77

and Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloom­

berg both 78. This prompts James Naugh­

tie to whip out his transatlantic abacus to

tell Radio 4’s World at One: ‘If Pete ran for

president eight elections from now in

2052, he’d still be younger than Joe Biden,

Michael Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders and

Donald Trump.’ Let’s hope James will still

be with us even in his 101st year.

JOHN Cleese offers to meet admirers on

the US video site Fanmio, explaining: ‘It’ll

just be the two of us talking and you can

ask me whatever you want.’ Perhaps the

boobies could inquire why the ex-Python

is charging £235 per intimate chinwag.

JACOB Rees­Mogg offers advice on how to

cope with the coronavirus crisis: ‘Coughs

and sneezes spread diseases, keep it in

your handkerchief,’ adding the Cabinet

mantra: ‘Wash your hands to the national

anthem.’ Sorted!