Downing Street has played down reports of a cabinet rift over the UK’s future trading relationship with Australia, as trade secretary Liz Truss pushes to secure a deal before the G7 summit next month. Boris Johnson had been expected to arbitrate between the two sides at a cabinet committee meeting on Thursday. “There are a regular series of meetings on not just this trade deal but the deals we have been working on throughout,” Johnson’s official spokesman said. “I’ve been very clear with them [farmers] that of course I’m always looking to make sure, as I have committed to, that British farmers will not be undercut by unfair practices from elsewhere. Truss’s Department for International Trade has estimated that exports from the UK to Australia could increase by £900m as a result of a free trade deal.

Source: The Guardian May 20, 2021 19:07 UTC