COULD Donald Trump be coming for your Stornoway Black Pudding?
That’s the warning coming from the SNP’s Stewart Hosie after leaked documents revealed Geographical Indications (GIs) could be up for discussion in any post-Brexit trade deal.
Memos from the Department for International Trade’s UK-US trade and investment working group revealed American officials have come up with six “potential objectives” on altering and loosening standards for GIs.
Currently, the mark gives producers some form of protection from low-quality imitations.
You can only get certain products, including Scotch Lamb, Arbroath Smokies, Shetland Wool, and Scotch Whisky from Scotland.
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And while you might be able to get black pudding or equivalent in butchers all over the world, you’ll only get Stornoway Black Pudding made on Lewis - where, of course, Trump’s mother hails from. Hosie said there were genuine fears from Scottish producers: “Despite all the rhetoric, the reality behind closed doors is that the Tories are teeing up a sell-out of Scotland’s world-class food and drink produce in exchange for a dodgy Johnson-Trump trade deal cooked up in the backroom.
“With Trump set to arrive in the UK, behind the scenes US officials are willing to help wage a spin campaign to sell a race to the bottom in food safety and lobby the UK to step back on protecting Geographical Indications – measures in place to prevent bogus imitations.
“That would put at risk some of our famous produce such as whisky, Arbroath Smokies, Scottish farmed salmon and Stornoway Black Pudding. Scottish produce must not be on the menu for any trade deal.
“The SNP will work to maintain current and future EU standards and regulations in key areas to prevent a sell-out of our sectors. While also setting out that the Scottish Government should be closely involved in all stages of developing UK trade policy, to ensure that the interests of Scotland are strengthened.”
Meanwhile, thousands of NHS staff are expected to take to the streets of London in protest tomorrow as Donald Trump arrives for a NATO summit.
The demonstration outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening – as world leaders meet the Queen – comes amid fears over the role of the NHS in any future US-UK trade deal.
The last time Trump was in the UK, he said “everything is on the table” for trade talks – including the NHS.
This comes after a document was released laying out the details of talks involving UK and US officials, revealing the NHS would be on the table as part of any trade deal with the UK in the event of Brexit.
LibDem Alex Cole-Hamilton said Trump was “a serious and direct threat to our beloved NHS.”
He added: “It is a vital public service which must be protected from commercial exploitation, we need to keep it out of the hands of Donald Trump. Johnson and Trump are in cahoots to sell off our NHS, despite Johnson’s insistence that it is not for sale. Yet again, Johnson is lying to us all.” Jeremy Corbyn urged the Prime Minister not be the “world’s leading sycophant” when Trump arrives in London later tonight.
“It is time for Britain to stop being tied to Donald Trump’s coat-tails,” the Labour leader said.
He added: “Britain must make its own foreign policy, free from a knee-jerk subservience to a US administration which repudiates our values.” Johnson yesterday dodged a question on whether he was worried the President would say something embarrassing during his visit to the UK.
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