The great challenges of our time- combatting climate change and ensuring a just transition to a carbon neutral economy- have no respect for national borders. It is only by working with our socialist friends and allies across Europe that we can build a truly Green New Deal.

Boris Johnson’s deal is a bad one which will cost jobs, harm the economy and leave Britain isolated. It is a worse deal for our country than Theresa May negotiated. It’s not what people voted for three years ago, so only a Public Vote on it will settle the issue.

‘Dear Anna, Put Boris and his gang in the tower. Conned me into voting Leave. If there was another referendum I would vote to Remain’. That was the first message that greeted me this week, and though I will resist the temptation to call for the Prime Minister to be locked in the Tower, the sentiment is one that I hear more and more.

Farmers are calling for a People's Vote as their leaders are warning that more than half of farms will go bust if Boris Johnson forces through a no-deal Brexit.

“Many industries will suffer, but the industry that would suffer the most serious economic shock will be agriculture,” Dr Sean Rickard a former chief economist of the National Farmers Union (NFU) concludes.

According to the Independent a detailed study finds “A deadly cocktail of immediate tariffs, border checks, increased red tape and cheaper food imports from outside the EU will result in the “decimation of UK farming”.

The warning comes as the Farmers for a People’s Vote group is unveiled, as the latest arm of the movement demanding a Final Say referendum on the Brexit outcome.

It includes, the NFU’s ex-chief economist, Dr Sean Rickard the founder of an organisation of female farmers called Ladies in Beef and the director of Farmers First, bringing together nearly 3,000 operators from across the UK.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-farmers-protest-business-agriculture-referendum-final-say-a9058621.html

Government officials fear they will come under strong pressure from Trade Secretary Liz Truss to weaken the UK’s food and environmental standards so she can get a trade deal with the United States. 

A leaked briefing prepared for Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers warns that her ministry will come under “significant pressure” from the Department for International Trade (DIT) The internal document states that DIT will push the to “accommodate” American requests to lower the UK’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) post-Brexit.

The leaked paper has been published by the campaign organisation Unearther.Greenpeace https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2019/10/07/brexit-liz-truss-theresa-villiers-defra/

It says: “Weakening our SPS regime to accommodate one trade partner could irreparably damage our ability to maintain UK animal, plant and public health, and reduce trust in our exports,” it reads. It says giving the American what they want post Brexit would severely hamper Britain’s ability to negotiate an agreement with the EU and could lead to the EU imposing a hard border in Ireland to protect the single market.

Labour’s shadow Brexit Secretary Barry Gardiner told Unearthed: “That trade agreements with the USA and Australia risk opening the floodgates to food imports produced to much lower standards.

“Their rules specify ‘acceptable levels’ of maggots in orange juice, rat droppings in ginger and hormone levels in beef. The right level should be zero.

“Undercutting our farmers and food manufacturers like this would drive many of our producers out of business and put jobs at risk.”

 At a Tory conference fringe event hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs Truss

 Speaking at the conference earlier this week, however, Truss said she and her Defra colleague were united in their enthusiasm for a US deal. “Theresa Villiers, for example, the Defra Secretary, is a strong free trade supporter.”

Asked whether deals could lead to a race to the bottom on environmental standards, Truss said she wanted to take “a free-market approach”.

No-one who has been following British politics over the last few years can deny that public discourse around leaving the EU has been dominated by immigration. From the start of the process until today, the influx of European nationals into this country was front on centre of political arguments from all sides.

As a Labour activist, I only have to hear the words ‘General Election’ to start dusting off my waterproof and comfy trainers and mentally prepare to leaflet and door-knock for the foreseeable future. Growing up in the North-East, I’ve seen first-hand the benefits a Labour government can bring.

All too often we are met with the cries of a ‘capitalist plot’ when defending the European Union to our Labour colleagues, as 'neocon' and 'neoliberal' are added in for effect. Indeed, with its focuses on intergovernmental trade it could be seen as 'capitalist' but to label it as some sort of capitalist conspiracy is dangerous at best.

Parliament yesterday voted by 308-304 votes to force Theresa May to provide a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal. Brussels chiefs have today said that the EU will not renegotiate a deal with the Prime Minister if it is rejected by Parliament.

It is now up to the Prime Minister to listen to Parliament and to agree a deal with the European Union that limits the damage Brexit will do.

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