EU food and drink deal 'treason' row

ACCUSATIONS of treason over a food and drink deal with the EU are “nonsense’ a Government minister has said, as he defended talks on a pact with the bloc due to begin in the autumn.

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Nick Thomas-Symonds, the EU relations minister, rejected claims by Nigel Farage, and Kemi Badenoch's Tories, that the Gov-emment is surrendering sovereignty or freedoms, accusing them of offering only “easy answers and snake oil” when it comes to the UK-EU relationship.

The Government will begin detailed talks on the permanent sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) deal in the coming months, Mr Thomas-Symonds told an event hosted by the Spectator magazine in London yesterday. A summit with the EU will be held next year, he added.