"My Lords, the UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world. We remain committed to the promotion of human rights. This Government are in negotiations for a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"Free trade agreements such as this are hugely beneficial to both economies, and I do not think that is at the cost of things such as human rights. It is really important that we all hold dear to us our own standards and become huge ambassadors and advocates for those …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"First, there is no signed agreement with the GCC yet; it is under continuous negotiation. However, one of the opportunities we have is to reaffirm what standards a country should have and how it can rearticulate them within the terms of a free trade agreement. Then there are other aspects: …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"I do not believe that is what I said. What we are seeing is a combination of understanding that human rights are complex and broad. It is a much broader range of things: modern slavery and thinking about our labour standards, cultural things, same-sex marriages and how we think about …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"I thank the noble Lord for his agreement. The key point is that there is never an end state; the work here is never done. We are continuously building on our standards, sharing best practices and learning from what other countries are doing. One thing is clear: we really value …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"Trade is the consequence of a relationship: working with someone across the table with whom you have a shared ambition to work together. That drives both economic benefit and influence, and I do not believe that one ever comes at the cost of the other...." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"What I am hearing from the noble Lord is that our work here is not yet done. It is a long way from being done, and it is a constantly evolving situation where all of us are raising our own standards—here in the UK but in other countries as well. …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"I confirm that we hold our standards around human rights, and value our press, incredibly dearly and we would not do anything in a free trade agreement that takes away or dilutes any of those assets that we hold dear within the UK...." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank the noble Lords for their questions and responses to the Minister of Trade’s policy Statement. It is lovely to see the full support for trade that we all share. I am happy to answer the questions, but, before I do, I will take a step back …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech
"That is wonderful to hear—a worthy celebration indeed. Of course, I am delighted that, as a result of this deal, Scotland will benefit from significant tariff liberalisation for a whole variety of its exports, which includes whisky, for which the current 150% tariff will reduce to 75% from day one …..." Baroness Gustafsson - View Speech