Don’t Liam Fox and Michael Gove know how to use Skype? Just as the Cabinet finally start to reach agreement on the nuts and bolts of the UK’s Brexit negotiating position, a row has broken out across the Atlantic about chlorinated chicken.
Much to Fox’s frustration, his trip to Washington to begin US/UK trade talks has been dominated by chicken. After accusing the British press of being ‘obsessed’ by the issue of chlorinated chicken being a part of a trade deal, Fox has attempted to dampen down speculation on the issue. Speaking to Newsnight yesterday from Washington, Fox acknowledged farming concerns – but declined to rule out allowing chlorine-washed chicken into the UK market place as part of a deal with the US:
‘There’s no food safety issue with chlorine-washed goods because the EU themselves say that’s perfectly safe. I think more of an issue would be around the animal welfare issues that that might suggest and of course we’ve got no intention of reducing the quality and standards of our regulation and that’s one of the things we’ve made very clear.’
However, across the pond Michael Gove has busied himself on the Today programme suggesting the opposite.
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