Brexit: US insists chlorinated chicken must be on menu in any UK trade agreement

Chlorinated chicken must be part of a post-Brexit trade agreement, the US secretary of state says – insisting that will make it a “really good deal” for British shoppers.

Mike Pompeo confirmed that Washington will demand the inclusion of its controversial agricultural products, despite Boris Johnson insisting he will not let them in if they lower standards.

Asked if the row over the chlorine-washed chicken would be “the biggest barrier” to a deal, Mr Pompeo agreed the issue would be “real contentious” – but warned US farmers would demand it.

“Our ask will be as it has been in the other negotiations,” he vowed, speaking to Iain Dale’s programme on LBC Radio. “We need to be open and honest about competitiveness.

“We need to make sure we don’t use food safety as a ruse to try and protect a particular industry.”

Mr Pompeo then argued the biggest winners would be “consumers who are going to be the net beneficiaries of these really good deals”.

The comments disturb the prime minister’s Brexit Day celebrations, coming after Mr Pompeo and Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, were able to put on a show of unity over Huawei and the Iran nuclear deal.

Ministers have repeatedly insisted they will not allow the supposed prize of a US-UK trade deal to lower food standards in the search for cheaper food, promised by Brexit supporters.

UK farmers also fear it would force them to slash their standards, in order to compete, jeopardising sales in their main market of the EU – which outlaws chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-pumped beef.

Scientists fear chlorine-washing does not remove deadly bacteria, merely masking safety concerns, making it an issue of human health as well as food standards.

Sue Davies, the head of consumer protection at the consumer group Which?, said: “America is sorely underestimating how much of a deal breaker food standards are for consumers in this country.

“People are united in their opposition to lowering food standards here, with more than nine in 10 believing it is important that our current rules are maintained post-Brexit.”

In the interview, Mr Pompeo was also asked if the row over the UK’s go-ahead for Huawei to help build its 5G network would force the US to withhold intelligence.

“We’ll certainly never put American information in a place that we don’t deem its safe,” he replied.

And he defended the so-called Middle East peace plan against an accusation it is “so slanted towards Israel that Palestinians could never accept it”.

“This is the best offer the Palestinians have had in all of their history,” the secretary of state claimed.

“The Palestinian people are gonna come to understand that this is an offer of a lifetime, of a generation ... I am confident that they’ll find that the lives of the Palestinian people will be far better off.”