Tony Abbott is “not fit to represent the UK”, celebrities write in open letter

Ian McKellen, Russell T Davies and a Conservative peer join calls against the government's prospective appointment of the former Australian prime minister as a UK trade envoy.

By Ailbhe Rea

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 11: Former Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott attends the launch of 'Life, Love & Marriage' by Christine Forster on June 11, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Tony Abbott is “not fit to be representing the UK as our trade envoy”, celebrities including the actor Ian McKellen and the screenwriter Russell T Davies have said in an open letter to the government, as pressure builds over the prospective appointment of the former Australian prime minister to the UK Board of Trade.

A long list of celebrities and campaigners, now joined by the Conservative peer Robert Hayward, have urged the goverment to reconsider the prospective appointment. Citing his comments about gender equality and abortion, his vigorous campaigning against the successful same-sex marriage referendum in Australia, and his description of climate change as “probably doing good”, the letter says such views are incompatible with a role representing an “outward-looking Britain”.

The possible appointment has been the basis of uncomfortable interviews for cabinet ministers Liz Truss and Matt Hancock in recent days, as they seek to distance themselves from Abbott’s stated positions while making the case for his potential value in securing a trade deal with Australia. The government has yet to confirm any appointments.

The full letter is below.

As committed equality and environmental activists, we the undersigned urge the government to reconsider its proposed appointment of Tony Abbott as a trade envoy to the UK Board of Trade. 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”. This is a man who described himself as “threatened by homosexuality”, and vigorously campaigned against the ultimately successful referendum in Australia to allow same-sex couples to marry. This is a man who has suggested that climate change is “probably doing good”, and who downplayed the link between extreme weather and bushfires at the height of this year’s Australian bushfire crisis.

For all these reasons and more besides, this man is not fit to be representing the UK as our trade envoy. If the government is truly committed to an outward-looking future for Britain, to tackling climate change, and to creating an equal society for all, it should reconsider its proposed appointment of Tony Abbott.

Rachel McClelland, film-maker and founder of Planet Shine (letter organiser)