ONE of Boris Johnson’s headline boasts from his recent trip to the US has been rubbished by his own government.
A Downing Street official labelled as “misleading” the Prime Minister’s claim that the US is lifting a historic ban on British lamb imports, including kebabs and koftas.
Emails, seen by the Daily Record, show that it is “extremely unlikely” the restrictions on those products would actually be scrapped.
The SNP say Johnson has been “skewered by his own dishonesty”, while Labour said he’d been “left looking sheepish”.
During his pan-Atlantic trip, the Tory leader vowed to end a ban on lamb exports which has been in place since the original outbreak of mad cow disease in 1989.
He announced on September 22: “I can tell you today that what we’re going to get from the US now is a lifting of the decades-old ban – totally unjustified, discriminating against British farmers – the ban on British lamb. We are going to be able to export British lamb to the US for the first time in decades.
“It will be for the kebabs, the koftas, the lamb burgers … the people of the US will be supplied at last by Britain.”
Yet leaked emails from the UK’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) contradict those claims.
Sent the day after the PM’s boast, the message from a Defra official states that “some of what he said was misleading”.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson told his visa plan is 'offensive' to lorry drivers
It sets out policy guidelines for government worker which clarify the true likelihood of the ban being scrapped.
The email reads: “To clarify, we understand that the ban has not yet been lifted, but we do expect a final review of the rule (which will recommend the ban should be lifted) to be published within the next week. This said, there would still be many steps to be taken before exports can comments [sic].”
It adds: “Kebabs, koftas – as named by the PM – are extremely unlikely to be initially eligible for exports due to specific requirements for such products.”
The revelations are highly embarrassing for Johnson’s administration and prompted a wave of criticism from political opponents.
SNP MSP and former sheep farmer Jim Fairlie told the Record: “Boris Johnson has been skewered by his own dishonesty. These are damning revelations from inside the UK Government which appear to show the Prime Minister has blatantly tried to mislead people.”
Labour’s shadow scottish secretary Ian Murray added: “Once again, Boris Johnson has been skewered by the truth. There was no substance to his promises and he’s been left looking sheepish.”
Defra stated that it does not comment “on leaked documents”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel