Scottish First Minister calls former PM Tony Abbott a misogynist on British TV

Tony Abbott’s appointment as trade adviser in the UK is under a cloud after he was slammed on British TV as a “misogynist” and “homophobe”.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has been labelled a “misogynist” and a “sexist” on British morning television.

The UK Government is under increasing pressure to backtrack on the appointment of Mr Abbott as a trade envoy before he has even been assigned to the role.

Mr Abbott has flown to the UK ahead of his expected appointment to the UK’s Board of Trade, which will advise the government on future negotiations.

But on Britain’s Sky News overnight Mr Abbott was slammed by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, while the UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock was forced to defend the former Aussie PM under intense questioning.

Ms Sturgeon said if she had anything to do with the decision Mr Abbott wouldn’t be a trade envoy for the UK and labelled his comments about coronavirus deaths in aged care as “disgraceful”.

"Trade is not separate from the values and the reputation that a country wants to project internationally."@NicolaSturgeon tells @KayBurley that Tony Abbott is "not the kind of person who should be a trade envoy for the UK".

Follow live: https://t.co/tRDyBaQ5v4 #KayBurley pic.twitter.com/gpBLGCtdqg

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) September 3, 2020

“Tony Abbott, even before these comments, he’s a misogynist, a sexist, he’s a climate change denier and he’s not the kind of person who should be a trade envoy or any kind of envoy for the United Kingdom,” she told Sky News presenter Kay Burley.

“Trade is not separate from the values and the reputation a country wants to project … there should be ethics attached to any country’s trading profile.”

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaking to the media. Picture: AFP

Mr Hancock was grilled by Ms Burley about Mr Abbott’s suitability for the role.

He said as a former prime minister Mr Abbott had a lot of experience.

During an awkward exchange when asked by Ms Burley if Tony Abbott was the right person to represent the UK “even if he’s a homophobic misogynist”, Mr Hancock said “well, he’s also an expert in trade”.

Mr Hancock also said Mr Abbott denied the claims.

“We need experts in different areas and somebody who is the former prime minister of Australia is obviously an enormous expert in the field of trade,” he said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson later said no decisions had been made yet on appointments to the Board of Trade.

'Is Tony Abbott the right person to represent us - even if he's a homophobic misogynist?' - @KayBurley

Health Secretary @MattHancock says the former Australian PM is "also an expert in trade" and denies the claims.

Follow #KayBurley live: https://t.co/Qj88d3ncEp pic.twitter.com/ELhm8PzXAo

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) September 3, 2020

Speaking to the UK think tank Policy Exchange this week, Mr Abbott said the strategy adopted by most countries of preserving “almost every life at almost any cost” had resulted in an economic disaster.

“If the average age of those who would have died is 80, even with roughly 10 years of expected life left, that’s still $200,000 per quality life year or substantially beyond what governments are usually prepared to pay for life-saving drugs.

“In this climate of fear, it was hard for governments to ask: ‘how much is a life worth?’ because every life is precious, and every death is sad; but that’s never stopped families sometimes electing to make elderly relatives as comfortable as possible while nature takes its course. Likewise, people anticipating serious health problems sometimes elect not to be resuscitated.”