Leaked Letter Reveals UK Scraps Plan to Enforce Human Rights With Brexit Trade Deals
LONDON (The Independent/The Observer) – The government is no longer planning to use its Brexit trade deals to spread and enforce human rights around the world, a leaked letter from the International Trade Secretary revealed.
Writing to MPs Anne-Marie Trevelyan said human rights would be kept out of trade talks and that she believed “free trade agreements are not generally the most effective or targeted tool to advance human rights issues.”
The dramatic change in approach comes as the UK tries to sign a deal with Persian Gulf countries including Saudi Arabian, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – all renowned for their poor human rights records.
“This response by the Trade Secretary confirms our biggest fears that human rights will not even be paid lip service in the upcoming trade agreement with the Persian Gulf,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.
“The government shamelessly refuses to include even a mention of human rights in their trade deal, despite dealing with some of the most abusive states on the planet,” Alwadaei added.
“The bottom line is Persian Gulf dictators will be confidently reassured that when it comes to business with the UK, human rights will be left completely off the table,” Alwadaei said.
Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s economic affairs director, said the government was “sending a terrible message to other countries” about “how little the UK appears to value human rights and freedoms when trade deals are at stake”.
The UK is desperate to sign agreements with countries around the world to illustrate what it says are the benefits of leaving the EU customs union – and human rights are a sore-point for some countries Britain wants to do deals with.
Last year, when he was foreign secretary, Dominic Raab told officials that “restricting” trade because of lower human rights standards would mean “we’re not going to do many trade deals with the growth markets of the future”.
‘Waves of Industrial Action’
The development comes as Britain is facing a wave of coordinated industrial action by striking unions this autumn in protest at the escalating cost of living crisis.
A series of motions tabled by the country’s biggest unions ahead of the TUC congress next month demand that they work closely together to maximize their impact and “win” the fight for inflation-related pay rises.
The move, which includes the two biggest unions, Unison and Unite, comes amid growing anger at the government’s failure to agree a detailed package of help for families following Friday’s announcement that average gas and electricity bills are to rise by 80%.
While coordinated action would be short of a “general strike” floated by some union leaders, Unite’s motion would give the TUC the task of ensuring that walkouts are synchronized or deliberately staggered to deliver the greatest impact.