A NEW trade deal with Australia could hit British farmers hard and lead to lower-quality imported food being sold to Swindon shoppers.

That fear is what made Liz Webster decide not to run as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the re-held Wiltshire police and crime commissioner election.

Instead, she is raising awareness of issues that her Save British Farming campaign says will irreversibly impact the food we eat.

But the trade minister said British farmers have nothing to fear from the trade deal, which the government is hoping to secure in the next few weeks.

Ms Webster, whose farm is at Castle Eaton, said: “If this rushed deal goes through, it will be very hard to reverse and our food will change because global producers with lower standards of food production will be able to sell to us.

“It will open the door for similar deals with countries who use fertilisers and pesticides in their farming which are banned over here.

“For example – to maximise profits, cattle are fattened up with hormones and they’re more likely to get infected because they live in more cramped conditions than at British farms.

“So they’re fed antibiotics more often, which end up in us and we develop a resistance. The risks to health are immense, it’s terrifying, and a big betrayal.”

With an influx of tariff-free, cheaper food coming in from abroad, Ms Webster worries British farmers would struggle to compete while still maintaining their higher standards.

She added: “British farming is a cottage industry and that will be swallowed up by this market for cheaper, worse food. Then there’ll be a moment where farmers here think ‘well, if they’re doing it, so will I’ because they have to survive.

“The vast majority of people are against lowering food standards but the government is trying to push this through anyway.”

Trade minister Greg Hands gave the House of Commons a “cast-iron guarantee” that British food standards would not be affected by a trade deal with Australia and suggested that farmers should be “positive, not fearful”.

Mr Hands added: “There will be no compromise on our standards of animal welfare, food safety and the environment. This will be a great deal for the UK and our farmers will continue to thrive. It will open doors for our farmers into some of the biggest economies of now and the future.”

The UK has offered trade deal terms to Australia where both countries would phase out taxes on imports over 15 years.