Kemi Badenoch needs to get a grip on trade negotiations to save Brexit

There was “I told you so” joy among Remoaners yesterday and a great deal of angst among Brexiteers when George Eustice, Boris Johnson’s former Environment Secretary, got to his feet in a debate and castigated the free trade deal struck with Australia. The problem for Brexiteers was that Mr Eustace is one of them, he always supported the cause and in fact, was once a member of Ukip. So when he expressed unhappiness with one of the early gains of Brexit, it was probably worth listening to.It is worth recounting what Eustice, a farmer who knew the Department for Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) brief inside out, said.The normally quiet politician stood up in a debate on the Australian deal and noted that now he was no longer bound by collective ministerial responsibility “I no longer have to put such a positive gloss on what was agreed…the Australia deal is not actually a very good trade deal for the UK”.He clearly resented the stage deal over a number of years which will ultimately completely liberalise the beef and lamb markets and potentially put many farmers out of business.Mr Eustice said: “Overall the truth of the matter is that the UK gave away far too much for far too little in return.”With an added little dagger he claimed the best bits of the deal were negotiated by his DEFRA department and the worst bits by Department for International Trade (DIT), at the time headed by Liz Truss.While many of his Tory colleagues believe he has painted far too bleak a picture and, in fact, the Australia deal offers the UK a lot as well as easing entry to the massive Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), it was also hard to deny that there were not at least elements of truth in what he was saying.The question hanging over the DIT is whether it is fit for purpose and if Kemi Badenoch actually has one of the toughest gigs in government as its new Secretary of State. Kemi Badenoch may have a tough gig ensuring the UK’s trade deals are good enough (Image: GETTY)The fact is that right at the top of government these issues were being raised.Even before Liz Truss’s rapid downfall as Prime Minister, there was a dispute over her push to get a free trade deal with India simply to say that a deal was in place rather than one which worked for the UK.A senior minister said: “The trouble was that Liz [Truss] wanted any deal. In her view, a bad deal was better than no deal. It just wasn’t unacceptable.”One of the ministers she clashed with was her Home Secretary Suella Braverman who vetoed an attempt to hand out thousands of easy visas to India.Ms Braverman, a Brexit spartan who opposed all of Theresa May’s compromises, is no shrinking violet in her support for Brexit and what it can achieve.But according to friends, she pointed out that Ms Truss had “not even managed to get India to agree to zero tariffs on whisky” in exchange for all those visas.The two women ended up having a blazing row over policy in a meeting about Ms Braverman sharing a written statement with a Conservative MP Sir John Hayes.The furious exchanges led to Ms Truss forcing her to resign, officially over sharing of documents but, according to Ms Braverman’s friends, actually over policy differences.READ MORE: Foreign Office staff were ‘scared’ to enter Dominic Raab’s office Suella Braverman had grave doubts about the quality of trade deals being negotiated (Image: GETTY)When Ms Truss announced that she was putting the US trade deal into the long grass or basically Joe Biden, who is deemed to be largely hostile to Brexit and the UK, stops being President, the news did not appear to break many Brexiteers hearts.It does not appear that Rishi Sunak has put a US trade deal at the forefront again even though Ms Badenoch gave a very positive speech on the subject at the Atlantic Future Forum.There is no doubt that a UK/ US trade deal could underpin a new economic form of NATO in a relatively hostile world with China as a force.But for this to happen the UK needs trade negotiators who are up to the task.Sources in DIT have told Express.co.uk that they are sceptical at the moment about whether there are enough good trade people and whether people are being promoted for the right reasons.DON’T MISSSunak’s ministers ‘bully civil servants’ claims union boss [REVEAL]The inside story of how Team Boris is taking out Sunak supporters [INSIGHT]Have your say on whether the UK should fork out for climate damage [REACT] Former DFRA Secretary George Eustice was very critical of the UK/ Australia trade deal (Image: GETTY)In particular, there were issues raised about when Antonia Romeo, a Whitehall highflyer dubbed “the Queen of woke”, was permanent secretary of DIT.According to one senior source, she once declared that her top goal in the department was for it to be rated the best department for LGBTQI issues by the controversial charity Stonewall.Staff there, as with other departments, spent much of their time doing woke courses and learning about so-called progressive issues. And it was even claimed that promotions were based on whether people met woke criteria such as being transgender rather than on their actual knowledge and skills regarding trade.The department advertised for “trade and gender equality advisers” and one think tank has pointed out that UK trade deals have “woke kill clauses”.Members of staff were ordered to take part in “non-binary networks” or neurodiversity courses among other woke training courses.Add on to this that the UK had not negotiated deals for decades while it was in the EU and the lack of experience then it gives a picture of a department lacking in focus.Ms Romeo is now permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice where she has been reported to have given Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab a dressing down for allegedly bullying civil servants. Examples of “woke” DIT training courses (Image: UK Government)One senior official told Express.co.uk: “We just need people who know about trade. There’s a shortage of that expertise but instead, we are asked to focus on woke issues. It’s madness.”Ms Badenoch, who was reappointed to the job by Rishi Sunak, may it turns out be the right person to do the job.Some MPs had claimed she was disappointed with the DIT role and had wanted education but she has also stood out against woke training courses be they on sexuality or race.Crucially, Mr Sunak added the women and equalities brief to her ministerial brief.It sounds like Ms Badenoch has a rough job to ensure that DIT – and other departments – are focussing on the task at hand.Supporters of Brexit, like readers of Express, may have cringed a bit when they heard Mr Eustice yesterday, but if Brexit is to be the success we all know it can be then it is vital that the Government delivers good trade deals which work for the UK.If you want to understand how important that is you only need to see the new assault on Brexit from former Bank of England figures, a prominent BBC journalist and others claiming it is bankrupting Britain. Brexiteers and the Government need to prove Brexit is a success or it could end up being reversed.