NIGEL Farage has backed allowing American chlorinated chicken into UK shops – and called for NHS funding to be “re-examined”.
The Reform UK leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that, as part of a UK-US trade deal, President Donald Trump “would want US agricultural products to be sold in Britain”.
“Now there’s been some concern about chlorine-treated chicken etc, but there is an answer to that which is label things, let consumers decide,” he said.
“So I think this shouldn’t be just about avoiding tariffs, it should be a broader deal.”
Asked directly whether he was in favour of allowing chlorine-treated chicken to be sold in the UK, he said: “I would allow consumers in America to buy our products and consumers here to buy their products, and provided we have the right labelling, that’s good.”
Chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef are both illegal under EU law, and Brexit sparked fears that the UK would allow the products into its market. Chlorine is used to wash the meat, which is not in itself harmful but is said to allow for much lower hygiene standards elsewhere.
The Tory government in 2020 said it would not allow either of the controversial meat products into the UK.
Farage was speaking ahead of Reform UK’s rally in Birmingham on Friday evening, which will launch the party’s local election campaign.
To head it off, Labour has sought to go on the offensive against Farage over his stance on NHS funding.
In a series of attack ads launched on Friday, the party has pointed to previous comments by the Reform UK leader, including one from 2012 in which he said: “I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care.”
“Everyone knows we are not getting bang for buck, everyone knows we are not getting value, let’s re-examine the whole funding model and find a way that’s more efficient,” Farage told the BBC.
He further said people should have health insurance “only if they can afford it” and suggested that Health Secretary Wes Streeting had been “saying very similar things” about funding the NHS.
A Labour source told PA that Streeting had “always said the model of funding doesn’t need to change”.
The source added: “Farage told The Telegraph in December, ‘if you can afford it, you should pay’, and he has called for an insurance-based system for years – that’s healthcare delivered on your ability to pay.”
During his interview, Farage did look to distance himself from Trump’s approach to Ukraine, suggesting Russia was “getting far too much”.
But while Reform’s polling numbers remain buoyant, the party has also suffered a split after now-independent MP Rupert Lowe criticised Farage’s leadership. He was subsequently suspended over allegations of bullying in his parliamentary and constituency offices – allegations Lowe strongly denies.
Ahead of the rally, Farage told the BBC his party “might have had a problem with one MP” but would go into the local elections on May 1 “with a very upbeat agenda”.
He said: “We are going to point out to people the extent to which local government is broken in Britain and why it needs new people.”
