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Millions of lambs could die needlessly as a result of Johnson's no-deal Brexit ‘carnage,’ Corbyn warns

MILLIONS of lambs could be needlessly slaughtered as a result of increased tariffs under Boris Johnson’s likely no-deal Brexit “carnage,” Jeremy Corbyn warned today.

The Labour leader visited a farm in Keswick, in the Lake District, to pledge to do “everything necessary” to stop a “reckless and unnecessary act” from happening on the current Brexit deadline of October 31.

Nearly 94 per cent of exported British lamb — the equivalent of more than four million lambs a year — is sold to the EU, according to landowners’ association the National Farmers Union (NFU), which claims that British farmers could face an EU tariff of 46 per cent on lamb as a result of a no-deal Brexit.

It’s threatening a so-called welfare cull of animals to stop them dying of starvation.

Export tariffs of beef could hit an average of 65 per cent while those on chicken could up by 27 per cent.

Shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman, who was also at the Rake Foot Farm in Keswick, said British farming provides thousands of jobs in the biggest sector — food and drink — of the manufacturing industry.

“Now is the time to fight to save our farms from being undercut and sold down the river by this Conservative government,” she said.

Speaking before his visit to the farm in the Tory marginal seat of Copeland, Mr Corbyn said: “The damage to our farming industry of such a reckless and unnecessary act is symbolic of Boris Johnson’s approach to Brexit.”

On Tuesday he will meet leaders and senior backbenchers from across Parliament to discuss “all tactics available to prevent no-deal.”

Meanwhile Mr Johnson was in Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, after his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday.

The PM has said that he wants the Irish border backstop plan to be scrapped from the withdrawal agreement in reopening negotiations with the European Union.

Mr Macron described the agreement and Irish backstop as “genuine, indispensable guarantees.”

But he said the current agreement could be amended as long as it complied with the EU’s goals — preserving the integrity of the single market and the Good Friday Agreement — and said Mr Johnson could come forward with “smart” proposals within 30 days.

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