A Labour minister told a radio host to "get a life" as a row erupted over a potential ban on smoky bacon-flavoured crisps under planned European laws. The rules would prevent the use of "meaty" terms to describe vegetarian food, aiming to avoid consumer confusion, as crisp manufacturers do not actually use meat in the snack.
The food and farming deal is one of three agreements Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to sign with Brussels negotiators at the EU-UK summit on November 20, alongside a deal on emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme.
Row over 'meaty' labels
The food deal, expected to see the UK adapt to EU regulations on plant, animal and food trade standards to remove post-Brexit checks from exports, has raised concerns about a ban on smoky bacon crisps. Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle compared the row to the debate over bendy bananas.
Asked whether closer alignment with the bloc could lead to the banning of bacon crisps' labelling, Dame Angela told Times Radio host Stig Abell: "Oh, Stig. I mean, really, we've had EU straight bananas, and now we're talking about banning smoky bacon crisps; I think you should get a life.
"This is actually about ensuring that we can do business with our closest neighbours. We've got huge potential growth in our economy if we allow our farmers and food producers to be able to export into Europe again without all the huge uncertainty and the costs and frictions that Brexit brought us.
"This will be a deal that improves that situation and it will enable this economy to grow and for us to have higher levels of prosperity than we've had before. If you want to obsess about smoky bacon crisps, I suppose that's your choice."
Transition period rejected
Dame Angela declined to commit to giving farmers more time to adapt to new trading arrangements with the EU, arguing that removing post-Brexit barriers as quickly as possible would bring "huge economic benefits".
Pressed on why the Government had rejected farmers' calls for a 24-month transition period to prepare for changes, she said ministers were listening closely to their concerns. She told the BBC's Today programme: "The transition is a balance between getting and accessing those benefits as quickly as possible, but dealing with some of the transitional issues that you have to deal with whenever you're moving from one system to another."
Mr Burnham has said that the deals to be agreed at the UK-EU summit could raise GDP by 0.4%, up from the previous estimate of 0.3%.
Barnier on rejoining EU
Meanwhile, former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier suggested the UK could rejoin the EU without having to adopt the euro, but would have to accept freedom of movement and membership of the single market.
Mr Barnier, who led the EU team during the divorce proceedings between the UK and Brussels, told Sky News: "I always thought during the Brexit negotiations that the door will remain open. If it is the choice of the UK to ask for a new negotiation to rejoin, it's perfectly possible to begin such a negotiation without any kind of obligation to take part in the euro."
Asked whether that meant there was wiggle room in the EU's normal requirement for new member states to take the currency, he said: "Yes. But what is, and what remains unnegotiable, is the condition to join the single market. There is no … possible negotiation on any kind of cherry-picking or the single market 'a la carte'. The UK knows quite perfectly the condition to be part of and to rejoin the single market and the customs union."
Mr Burnham has said the Government will "explore options" following the UK-EU summit for a different long-term relationship with the bloc. His remarks in recent weeks have fuelled questions about the prospect of the UK returning to the EU or adopting its freedom of movement rules, but the Prime Minister has insisted voters would ultimately be "the boss" of any changes.
