The government just agreed to let Brussels write Britain's food rules and Parliament has not seen it

Britain just agreed to let Brussels write its food rules. And Parliament hasn't even seen the deal.

Here's what's happened. A 200-page draft agreement has gone out to all 27 EU governments. It covers food, animal health, plant health and pesticides. The technical name is sanitary and phytosanitary standards, or SPS.

It went to EU capitals through their ambassadors six days ago. The BBC broke it on the 3rd of November. And as of today, the full text still hasn't been published. No impact assessment either.

So who's signing this? Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister. He's due to finalise it at a UK-EU summit in Brussels on the 20th of November. He'll meet Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, and António Costa, the President of the European Council.

Now here's the part that matters most.

The deal rests on something called dynamic alignment. Britain's own food, animal and plant health rules would update automatically every time the EU changes its rules. Britain gets no vote on those changes. It just follows them.

Most of the negotiating happened under the last Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. Andy Burnham is finishing it off and putting his name to it.

So why would he do that? He says it pays for itself. Speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, he said Treasury analysis suggests the deal could add up to 0.4% of UK GDP at the high end. The government's own forecast is £5.1 billion a year by 2040.

And there's a case for it. British food and farm exports to the EU have fallen by roughly 22% since Brexit, on the government's own figures. This deal could put British sausages, burgers, shellfish and seed potatoes back on EU shelves. All of that is currently blocked. It could also scrap export health certificates — up to £200 a consignment — plus phytosanitary certificates and inspection fees. And it would ease checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

But here's the thing nobody in government has answered.

Parliament has not seen the full text. Ministers haven't said whether MPs get a vote before Andy Burnham signs it in eleven days. As recently as the 22nd of October, the government told Parliament only that talks were at an advanced stage. Nothing about a near-final text already sitting with EU governments.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, says dynamic alignment takes Britain backwards.

That's the leader of the opposition saying Britain is giving up control, not gaining it.

So what do the people who actually farm and feed Britain think? They're split.

The British Meat Processors Association has welcomed the draft, but warns of a cliff-edge risk if EU rules change suddenly. The Nationwide Caterers Association says the deal fundamentally rewrites domestic British food law. The National Farmers Union — whose members send 68% of their agri-food exports to the EU — backs cutting the border friction, but wants protections kept on pesticides and plant breeding rules. The Country Land and Business Association's president warns British farmers could end up bound by EU rules on pesticides and animal health even if they never export a single product.

And the RSPCA has raised a different worry entirely. It says the EU hasn't adopted Britain's own animal welfare reforms — the ban on sow stalls, the ban on battery cages, the post-Brexit ban on live exports. Align with the EU now, it says, and those gains could unwind.

Two other draft agreements — on linking UK and EU carbon markets, and a youth mobility scheme — went out alongside this one. Neither is what this story is about.

So what don't we know? The final text. What it costs as well as what it earns. And whether Parliament gets a vote before Andy Burnham puts his signature on it in Brussels, eleven days from now.