Ministers need to get their act together to talk trade

Ministers are just discovering that, when it comes to trade, taking back control means taking responsibility for difficult choices. And they need the right processes to do that. 

Headless chickens

To chlorinate or not to chlorinate, that is the question. This is only one example of the sort of knotty detail that Ministers will confront, line by line, when they come to negotiate trade deals.

This is a detail that balances the potential interest of consumers (the right to cheaper American chicken) with the interests of UK farmers (the retention of a market protected by high regulatory standards). Do we turn to the US model of regulation, prejudicing access to the European market, or sign up to Michael Gove’s vision of the future of farming (no lowering of regulatory standards, competing on quality)?

If we let US chickens in, what do we trade in return? Who will benefit? The Department for International Trade (DIT) talks about agriculture for services deals. Does this mean we trade chickens for financial services? London bankers benefiting at the expense of poultry farmers in Norfolk?

And what about the poultry producers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? All trade deals have potential regional impacts – and the devolved administrations will have their own concerns.

Game of chicken

This sort of spat will put any sane country off negotiating with us. The negotiators on the other side of the table will look at the amateurish arguments going on in the UK right now and conclude that the UK does not have its act together. The Trade Secretary does not appear to speak for the Government. The Government does not seem to know what it wants.

More than that, the Government has done none of the necessary work to prepare the ground with outside interests for making the difficult trade-offs that trade policy requires. And it is still rowing with the devolved administrations about how to square UK future responsibility for trade policy with full devolution in areas such as agriculture policy and regulation for the environment and public health. 

Ready-cooked chicken

In our report, Taking Back Control of Trade Policy, we warn that the Government needs to set up processes for trade policy. They need better internal processes to make the internal trade-offs and decisions necessary to pursue a coherent negotiating strategy.

We warn that this is the type of choice Whitehall finds difficult and ministers are reluctant to make.

Just as important is the need for proper and early external engagement. DIT talks as though trade agreements mean winners all round, and the net effect of freer trade should be positive. But there will be interests that are sacrificed, potential losers and concerns about the policy implications of the choices that are made. 

We also say the UK should establish an independent analytical trade body - along the lines of the Australian Productivity Commission - to help ensure the debate is based on evidence and not emotion. The last couple of days have underlined that need.

Both the Conservative and Labour manifestos made proposals on how to set up structures - perhaps in Whitehall - to deal with competing interests. In this Labour showed more awareness than the Conservatives. But so far, nothing has happened and it needs to. Genuine early engagement is important for Brexit and matters for trade policy.

Naked chickens

The EU has run into difficulties before when it negotiated in secret and then could not get the final deals agreed. The UK was the source of a lot of the concerns about the proposed EU-US TTIP agreement – whether about health and safety standards, the threat to the NHS or the impact on livestock. The EU has now realised it has to embrace transparency.

The UK has fallen into a policy of accidental transparency by having ministerial discussions on TV and radio interviews. It needs more structured transparency to build public confidence and support for its trade objectives.

Taking back control was the lead mantra of last year’s Leave campaign. It is rapidly becoming clear to all involved that also means taking responsibility. Cabinet Ministers need to be looking at how we can do this – not running around like headless chickens.