UK Parliament / Open data

Trade Deals: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Proceeding contribution from Greg Hands (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 12 October 2022. It occurred during Debate on Trade Deals: Parliamentary Scrutiny.

Let me take that in the spirit in which it is meant. I think we will agree to move on, but the hon. Gentleman has made his point. I am just saying that Ministers are always responsible for the decisions and actions of their Departments. That is a very good rule for how our constitution works.

My hon. Friend the Member for Totnes made various excellent points about better clarity and better comms. In my experience, there can always be better communication in the world of trade. There is always a huge amount of misunderstanding in relation to trade in general and free trade agreements in particular.

My hon. Friend mentioned outreach, which I will come back to. He also mentioned human rights clauses. The UK has an incredibly proud record—not only on our own human rights, but on the engagement we do around the world. Free trade agreements are not always the best way to engage on human rights—there are often better ways to do that—but we do make sure that, wherever appropriate, human rights are included in free trade agreements. We will certainly engage with all our trade partners on the issues that matter to the British people and the Government, be they human rights or trade union rights.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
720 c163WH 
Session
2022-23
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
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