Boris Johnson has appointed Tony Abbott as an official UK trade adviser, defying widespread condemnation of the former Australian prime minister’s record of misogyny and homophobia and his views on the climate emergency. Abbott, whose consideration for the role prompted criticism from opposition parties, charities and LGBT and environmental activists, is among nine external advisers appointed to the Board of Trade. The board, revived by Theresa May, is intended to help shape post-Brexit trade policy. Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, who declined to defend Abbott’s views when asked about them in a TV interview last week, said the advisers were “a diverse group of people who share Britain’s belief in free enterprise, democracy and high standards and rules-based trade”. Other external unpaid advisers to the board include the former Conservative MEP and fervent Brexiter Daniel Hannan, and the former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt. But it is the choice of Abbott, a controversial and often unpopular prime minister of Australia from 2013 until he was ousted by Liberal party colleagues in 2015, that has attracted anger and concern. Abbott, who once described abortion as “the easy way out” and has suggested men are better adapted than women to exercise authority, gained a reputation for epitomising what many in Australia saw as an overly macho approach to politics. His views reached international prominence in 2012 when Australia’s then prime minister, Julia Gillard, used a widely shared speech in parliament to castigate his opinions. A prior opponent of equal marriage, Abbott has also suggested climate change is “probably doing good”, and likened policies to combat it to “primitive people once killing goats to appease the volcano gods”. The suggestion that he could become a trade adviser brought condemnation from the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who said he had “real concerns” about his suitability and wouldn’t appoint Abbott if he were prime minister. Following news of the appointment, Emily Thornberry, the shadow international trade secretary, said: “First, his history of offensive statements is so long and repetitive that it speaks to serious defects in his character, which is not one I think should be representing Britain on the world stage. “And second, the fact that he has no experience of detailed trade negotiations, no understanding of Brexit, no belief in climate change, no concern for workers’ rights, and no compunction about killing off Australia’s car industry mean, to my mind, that he has no credentials for this role. “Tony Abbott is therefore the wrong appointment on every level.” Equality and environmental activists including the actor Sir Ian McKellen and the Doctor Who screenwriter Russell T Davies had previously signed a letter urging the government not to appoint Abbott to the board. “This is a man who described abortion as ‘the easy way out’ and suggested that men may be ‘by physiology or temperament more adapted to exercise authority or to issue command’,” the letter said.
Caroline Nokes, the Tory chair of the women and equalities select committee, told the BBC: “I just don’t think this is a man who should be anywhere near our Board of Trade.” Describing his expected appointment as “awful”, she added: “Is he the sort of man I want to be representing us globally? No.” The Scottish National party’s deputy leader in Westminster, Kirsten Oswald, said the appointment was “beyond indefensible”. “If holding misogynistic, homophobic, Trump-backing, climate change-denying views, as well as saying that some elderly people with Covid-19 should be allowed to die, is what qualifies you for a role with this Tory government in promoting the UK internationally then it is not so much Global Britain as it is Little Britain,” she added.
Late on Friday night Abbott released a statement saying he was “pleased to have been announced as an adviser to the reconstituted UK Board of Trade”, adding: “It’s important for the wider world that Britain makes the most of its post-Brexit opportunities and I am proud to be playing a part.” Following several days of interviews in which several of Johnson’s ministers seemed wary of endorsing Abbott, No 10 insisted earlier on Friday that no decision had been made, indicating a possible U-turn. On Thursday, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, appeared to express disquiet over the move in a TV interview, declining to agree that Abbott was a “fit and proper” person to take on an official UK role. But during a visit to Solihill on Friday, Johnson defended Abbott, calling him “a guy who was elected by the people of the great liberal democratic nation of Australia”, while also stressing that he did not “agree with everyone who serves the government in an unpaid capacity on hundreds of boards across the country”. Johnson said that while he did not share some of Abbott’s views, he believed Abbott’s spell as Australian prime minister made him suitable for the job.
Johnson has repeatedly refused to back down under intense criticism of appointments, as also shown over crises involving Dominic Cummings and the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick. Downing Street is likely to have calculated that concerns about Abbott’s views will be balanced by voters who may applaud a refusal to bow to criticism – a sign of a wider cultural war on progressive values that Johnson’s advisers are increasingly keen to fight. It is not a risk-free move, however, with Abbott tending to be outspoken on many issues. In a speech and Q&A on Tuesday, Abbott railed against what he called Covid “health dictatorships”, saying the economic cost of lockdowns meant families should be allowed to consider letting elderly relatives with the coronavirus die. He said not enough politicians were “thinking like health economists trained to pose uncomfortable questions about the level of deaths we might have to live with”.