Starmer accused of Brexit ‘smoky bacon surrender'

Telegraph

a day ago

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of a 'smoky bacon surrender' after it emerged that British crisp manufacturers must change their recipes because of his Brexit reset deal.
Brussels has banned eight smoke flavourings, which are still allowed in Britain, including those used for smoky bacon crisps.
The Prime Minister agreed to dynamically align with EU rules on food safety, plant and animal health in his reset deal in what critics warned would make Britain a 'rule taker' from Brussels.
That means UK authorisation of the smoke flavourings will have to be withdrawn, despite the Government recently extending the deadline for their renewal.
It also raises the possibility that smoky bacon crisps will never taste quite the same again.
'Leave our smoky bacon alone,' Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, told The Telegraph.
'You have to ask what next? Changes to the way we smoke our kippers? Who knows? The truth is this is all now totally out of our hands.
'Our industries have to change to adapt to how the EU sets the rules, maybe not what our own people, our own innovators, entrepreneurs and industries would choose to do,' Mr Farage continued.
'This is all waved away by Starmer and co with a wave of a hand, saying it makes everything simpler and easier. But actually, this genuinely is what sovereignty is all about.'
He added: 'I think it points to the fact that this Government has no respect for Brexit voters.'
'Flavour of betrayal'
Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers, said: 'This is a salt and vinegar surrender; an everyday example of what becoming a 'rule taker' from the EU in this area of law, now actually means.'
Richard Holden, a shadow Cabinet Office minister, accused Labour of tying up food producers with red tape.
'Labour's smoky bacon surrender is just the latest flavour of betrayal served up by their EU deal,' he said.
'The Conservatives have always made it clear: no dynamic alignment, no rule-taking from Brussels. We won't let Labour fritter away our freedoms – we'll fight this at every step.'
The Government argued that alignment will boost trade with the UK's closest trading partner and Northern Ireland, which was badly hurt by the Brexit agreement.
A Labour Party source said: 'British food and drink exports to the EU tumbled by more than a third since we left under the Tories' sham deal.
'The Labour Government is choosing to put lowering food costs and lowering business costs first, boosting the economy and getting more money in people's pockets. The Tories and Reform are cooked if they want to reverse that'.
Despite lobbying from the food industry in Europe, the EU ban on the smoke flavourings is due to take effect next year, after Brussels gave producers two years to change their methods.
Producers using the flavouring to replicate the traditional smoking process for hams, fish and cheese were given five years because of the expense of changing production processes.
The EU's food safety authority said last year that toxicity concerns about the flavourings were 'either confirmed or can't be ruled out.'
As a result, Brussels has not renewed market authorisations for the flavourings to be used, amid concerns over potential health risks, including cancer.
Better safe than sorry
EU regulation is based on the 'better safe than sorry' precautionary principle, which incentivises Brussels to ban things without hard evidence it definitely does harm.
Brexiteers argued that adopting a less risk-averse and more evidence-based approach would be one of the benefits of leaving the EU.
'With the EU's precautionary principle, we would not leave the front door in the morning,' Mr Farage said.
The UK inherited the decade-long market authorisation for the flavourings from its EU membership.
The Government recently removed the deadline from the authorisation, which means it will last until it decides otherwise. The Food Safety Agency is also reviewing the safety of the substances.
The smoke flavourings will come under alignment unless an unlikely exemption is negotiated with Brussels.
Britain's crisp manufacturers have already begun the process of changing their recipes.
A spokesman for the Potato Processors Association said: 'Most of our members already supply both the EU and UK markets and they have therefore adapted to EU requirements by reformulating their products accordingly.'
Frazzles and Walkers Smoky Bacon changed their recipe in 2023, to keep selling into the EU.
A Government spokesman said: 'The deal we have agreed with the EU will make trade easier, removing paperwork and checks for businesses. We are working through the details of the final agreement and won't preempt those discussions.'
The Telegraph last year revealed that the divergence in British and EU rules would create a 'smoky bacon border ' with Northern Ireland, which continues to follow European regulations because of its Brexit deal.
That border will be erased by the UK aligning with the EU rules but not before it became a hot potato in the general election campaign.
The North Antrim seat held by first the Rev Ian Paisley and then his son for more than 50 years was won by Jim Allister, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice, who campaigned against the 'smoky bacon border'.