The Government Is No Longer Enforcing Human Rights With Brexit Trade Deals The Leaked Letter Shows

Writing to MPs, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said human rights would be left out of trade talks and that she believed “free trade agreements are generally not the most effective or targeted tool for promoting human rights issues”. The dramatic shift in approach comes as the UK tries to sign a deal with Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – all known for their poor human rights record. In October last year, Ms Trevelyan told the House of Commons that trade “will not come at the expense of human rights” and that talks on free trade agreements would create an “opportunity to open up discussions” on such issues. And as early as October 2020, Liz Truss, who is expected to become Prime Minister next month, gave a landmark speech in which she said UK trade policy would be used to “spread our core values”, such as .x. human rights around the world. But cracks have begun to appear in that approach and in June this year, MPs raised concerns after the government quietly dropped “human rights” and “rule of law” from a list of proposed targets in trade deal talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council. This week, the International Trade Secretary responded to MPs and set out a very different policy to what the government had previously advocated. “The UK is a leading champion of human rights around the world and the government remains committed to promoting universal human rights,” she said in her letter, dated August 23 and seen by The Independent. “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is leading this effort within the UK Government. This is done separately from free trade agreement negotiations. Truss hosted Gulf foreign ministers at Chevening in December (Alice Hodgson/Downing Street) “While aspects of trade policy can provide an opportunity to address other issues in bilateral relations, free trade agreements are generally not the most effective or targeted tool for advancing human rights issues.” The revelation sparked an angry backlash from human rights advocates, who said removing human rights protections from free trade deals would give the autocrats a helping hand. “This response by the trade minister confirms our worst fears: that human rights will not even be paid for in the upcoming Gulf trade deal,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. “The government shamelessly refuses to even include a reference to human rights in its trade deal, despite dealing with some of the most abusive nations on the planet. The bottom line is that the Gulf dictators will be confidently assured that when it comes to dealings with the UK, human rights will remain completely out of the question.” Peter Frankental, director of economic affairs at Amnesty International UK, 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”. . “Any notion that trade can somehow be excluded from human rights concerns ignores the grim reality that multinational corporations too often benefit from lax labor laws, conditions that amount to modern slavery and widespread environmental damage,” he said. “Once again, we seem to have a trade policy that is at odds with the UK’s stated foreign policy objectives of upholding openness and free speech, reducing conflict and environmental degradation, and ending modern forms of slavery”. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Bin Salman, who has a poor human rights record, at Downing Street in 2018 (Getty) Many free trade agreements around the world, such as the one the UK signed with the EU, include provisions to ensure countries adhere to basic human rights standards – with formal clauses making them legally enforceable. Apart from their moral dimension, the clauses are intended to ensure that countries cannot undermine each other by violating rights and allowing exploitation – for example through de facto slavery. But the UK is desperate to sign trade deals with countries around the world to show the benefits of leaving the EU’s customs union – and human rights are a sore point for some of the countries with which Britain he wants to make deals. Last year, when he was foreign secretary, Dominic Raab told officials that “curtailing” trade because of lower human rights standards would mean Britain “isn’t going to do many trade deals with the developing markets of the future”. The change in government policy is stark compared to statements by ministers earlier in their push for free trade deals. In October 2020, Ms Truss, then trade secretary, gave a landmark speech at Chatham House entitled “[Britain’s] vision for values-driven free trade’. He said Britain was “learning from the twin mistakes of value-free globalization and protectionism” and that the government was “instead rooting our approach to global free trade in our values ​​of sovereignty, democracy, the rule of law and tough engagement for high standards”. “In control of our trade future, we will work with like-minded democracies to support freedom, human rights and the environment, while strengthening business by reducing barriers to trade,” he said. “The United Kingdom did not leave the European Union to be based on the values ​​of another country. We support the right kind of globalization, based on shared values, as we help lead the fight for free markets, free societies, human rights and a greener world.” Ms Truss went on to say that “the values ​​that drive our new independent trade policy are well known”. “Our friends know how powerfully freedom has delivered and driven the UK’s national history, whether they are looking back at the historic progress of human rights under the Magna Carta, the abolition of the slave trade or the development of the free market economy,” he said in Time. “The British people care deeply about justice, decency and freedom. We can best spread our fundamental values ​​– freedom, democracy, human rights and protecting our natural environment for the future – by working with our friends and family around the world.” Trevelyan in Downing Street in May (Getty) Even as late as October 2021, trade policy seemed to at least pay lip service to human rights as a key part of trade negotiations. Asked by Labor MP Cat Smith about “recent discussions she has had with UK trading partners about introducing human rights clauses in future trade deals”, Ms Trevelyan said: “The government is clear that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights. The UK will continue to demonstrate global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international rights obligations and to hold accountable those who violate those rights. By having stronger economic relations with partners, we have the opportunity to open discussions on a range of issues.” In response to another question from Tory MP Peter Bone about whether free trade deals could help improve human rights in supply chains, Ms Trevelyan said: “It’s important to make sure we don’t just use force of trade to build relationships, as I said, but to give our businesses that want to work globally through supply chains the best tools and protections they may need to ensure they have power with countries where improving the position of workers potential of the supply chain, and indeed the protection of other human rights is of critical importance. 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