UK-Israel Trade Negotiations

Anum Qaisar Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Ms Anum Qaisar (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Paisley. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on securing this debate. He brought a significant amount of knowledge to the House. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke passionately, as he always does. The hon. Members for Southport (Damien Moore) and for Buckingham (Greg Smith) both gave interesting contributions, providing a lot of food for thought. It was a delight to hear from the hon. Member for Hendon (Dr Offord); I was due to speak in his debate next week, but I appreciated the opportunity to hear his contribution today.

The UK and Israel have only recently signed a strategic plan that is entirely devoid of human rights demands on Israel, and it is a real concern that this free trade deal will be similar. The UK Government will open a call for input on an enhanced bilateral free trade agreement with Israel this year, and the Scottish Government will provide a submission. However, there is no substitute for ongoing, meaningful engagement with Scottish Government officials on FTA negotiation matters—something that was not there in the talks with New Zealand and Australia.

We in the SNP are neither anti-trade nor anti-free trade. We recognise that there are many avenues for more trade co-operation, such as in the spaces of digital, data, science and technology.

Once we gain independence, the SNP will seek for Scotland to rejoin the EU. In doing so, it would rejoin the EU’s deal with Israel. That deal, of course, makes it categorically clear that trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories should not be treated as if it were trade with Israel.

Until Scotland gains her independence, we in the SNP urge the UK Government in the strongest possible terms to use every opportunity—indeed, this rare opportunity of trade negotiations—to end the persecution of the Palestinian people. As with any negotiation, there are trade-offs, but turning a blind eye to persecution should not be one of them. It must remain a priority for the UK Government, and a red line throughout every single stage of the negotiations. If human rights demands are not met, a free trade deal must come off the table. A life free from persecution and, to quote Human Rights Watch, “apartheid conditions”, and a decent standard of living—something we all deserve as human beings—are worth much more than a few tariff reductions between two already incredibly rich countries.

There is no doubt that trade relationships can lead to wider relationships and can often be used as a way of influencing—for good and sometimes for ill—the actions of other countries and Governments. The safety of the Palestinian people and their freedom from an illegal occupation should be a condition for any UK-Israeli free trade deal. Human rights concerns must be consistently raised throughout every stage, including at the inaugural UK-Israel joint committee to be held in the UK this year and the joint UK-Israel innovation summit in March. If previous free trade deals are anything to go by, it is no surprise that the Department for International Trade has not yet published its objectives and scoping assessments for this set of negotiations. I would appreciate clarification from the Minister on when they will be available.

Israel accounts for much less than 1% of UK exports. Anything it does will not fix the huge absence of trade caused by Brexit, which, I remind the House, Scotland did not vote for. The UK’s total bilateral trade relationship with Israel stood at £5 billion in 2020. In comparison, UK exports to the EU were £251 billion, representing 42% of all UK exports. We could increase exports to Israel by a factor of 10 and it would still be only a relatively minor trading partner compared with the EU and others. This deal will not compensate for what we have lost because of Brexit.

In 2019, Scottish exports were growing consistently in all directions—to the rest of the UK, the EU and the rest of the world. We now have clear evidence that that is no longer the case, as Scottish goods exports fell by 25% in the year to June 2021, compared with the equivalent period in 2019-20.

An industry that has a significant number of farmers contributing to it, including in my constituency, is the food and drinks industry. House of Commons research found that Brexit is costing the industry £62 million a week. That is £62 million a week that farmers and producers cannot afford to lose, but I do not remember seeing that figure on the side of a bus.

We seek assurances that nothing will be done to land a deal with Israel that will make it easier for goods that have been produced in the illegally occupied territories to be marked, sold and exported as produce of Israel. These goods should be regarded as the proceeds of crime. We know that a free trade deal solely benefiting Israeli products and not products that have been produced in illegally occupied territories will reduce the competitiveness of Palestinian produce, put Palestinian producers at a disadvantage and potentially distort the comparative prices of similar goods from both sides of the wire fence for UK consumers.

I would therefore appreciate clarification from the Minister on two points. First, so that customers across the four nations can decide for themselves where to buy from, we seek assurances that the Department for International Trade will follow a policy of non-divergence from our European partners when it comes to labelling. The possible free trade deal must include clauses that mandate accurate labelling of Israeli goods and settlement goods, so as not to mislead the consumer.

Secondly, we urge the Department to engage in every effort to improve the competitiveness of Palestinian products and the trade links between the UK and the occupied territories. That should include redoubling diplomatic efforts to see the end of the blockade of the Gaza strip—an embargo that covers trade. It should also include looking at the merits of advising UK businesses against trading with illegal settlements, as a disincentive to Israeli settlement-building in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It must be remembered that aid cuts by the Conservative Government have hit the occupied territories hard and badly impacted livelihoods, and they are hampering trade growth. Improving trade with Palestine is also a way out of poverty.

I will make a final point about the UK arms trade with Israel. Over the last three years, £76 million of arms sales have been exported to Israel. The Minister must categorically state today that offensive arms and small weapons—the weapons most commonly used against civilians—will be outside the free trade agreement negotiations.

Ultimately, what cannot happen is that these trade negotiations decouple Israel’s behaviour in the occupied territories—behaviour that is categorically illegal under international law.