The UK has been challenged to build a green economy to wean itself off Russian fuel once and for all according to a Government minister.
The call for change came from International Trade Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan on a trip to Norway in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She was in Scandinavia on a trip to boost the countries’ £27bn trade relationship on the same day as a UN report called for countries to act now over climate change.
Reliable energy partners
She said the UK must work with “reliable energy partners” to “meet our needs, protect our supply chains, and steady the global market”.
The visit came as a top Canadian official says it will make the case for Britain to accept imports of hormone-treated beef with “vigour and conviction,” as part of a new trade deal.
Interviewed by media giant Politico, Ralph Goodale, the Canadian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, said improved market access for the controversial treated meat was legitimate and appropriate and should be forthcoming as the two sides discuss a bilateral trade deal plus Britain’s wider ambitions to join a highly-prized Pacific trade bloc.
Opposition to hormone-treated beef
Animal welfare advocates and some opposition politicians are against the importation of hormone-treated meat. Britain maintained an EU ban after Brexit, but Canada, whose farmers do use growth hormones in farming, argues that the ban lacks a clear scientific basis.
The UK Government insists it will never compromise on its food standards as part of new trade deals, while observers do not expect the Canadians to win on the issue. Instead, the expectation is it will be a point of leverage to squeeze other wins out of the UK.
UK negotiating alone
Now Britain is negotiating alone, the Canadians might seek to roll back some of the measures in the current trading arrangements including restrictions on British cheese imports to Canada.
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