Farmers have vented their fury after prominent Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg called for cheap "hormone-injected beef from Australia" to be imported into the UK.
The controversial comments were made at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
Farmers have repeatedly raised concerns that post-Brexit free trade deals with countries like Australia could expose British farmers to competition from cheap food imports, produced to lower standards which would be illegal here - such as injecting beef cattle with growth hormones, which was banned in the EU in 1989.
But prominent Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg said he wanted cheaper food imports.
"I want hormone-injected beef from Australia," he said. "I’ve eaten beef in Australia, it was absolutely delicious, there’s nothing wrong with it and they should be allowed to export it here because we want lower costs."
It provoked outrage from the agricultural industry, with furious National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Minette Batters describing the comment as "morally bankrupt", and National Beef Association chairman Neil Shand saying he was "shocked".
And it also prompted clarifications from within the government, with Defra secretary Thérèse Coffey later confirming "we won't allow hormone-treated beef into our country" while farming minister Mark Spencer said Mr Rees-Mogg "needs to be educated" about the value of British farm produce.
Norfolk farmer Tony Bambridge runs a Lincoln Red beef herd at Blickling and is the NFU's council delegate for the county, as well as the regional chairman for East Anglia.
He said he was "personally reassured" by the statements of Tory ministers - but, with a general election on the horizon, he warned that Mr Rees-Mogg's comments "have clearly alienated some people within the British agricultural and food industry".
"I think the ministerial comments ought to come across," he said. "That is the real news, and the fact that British farmers do not use hormones because they are illegal in this country.
"I don't think there is anyone champing at the bit to suggest that we step back from that.
"People's expectation of high-quality, safe food is as high as it has ever been, and we would be foolish as an industry to ignore what our customers think.
"So we need to reflect on the fact that because British beef tends to be grass-fed in the main, utilising pastures in environmentally-sensitive areas, it means our beef has got a very low footprint, and is a fantatstic product which is revered across the world. We are proud to be part of that supply chain."
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