Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Thursday 25th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Trade Policy (Greg Hands)]

The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world. When we have concerns on human rights, they are raised directly with partner Governments, including at ministerial level, and that includes India. Trade negotiations with India are continuing, to build on our £38 billion trading relationship and get better access to 1.4 billion consumers.

[Joanna Cherry]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but an industry risk analysis dataset shows that India ranks among the worst performing countries for human rights abuses across a host of key industries. My question is a specific one and I would like an answer please: have the Government consulted human rights monitoring bodies and experts, and are the Government actively considering the impact of this deal on human rights abuses in India?

[Greg Hands]

I congratulate the hon. and learned Lady on her recent election as Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. The UK engages regularly with the Indian Government and other Governments around the world, bilaterally and multilaterally. Where we have concerns on human rights, we raise them directly with the partner Government, including at ministerial level.

I must say, though, that I am not entirely sure that whatever we do on human rights will make any difference to whether the SNP will support this trade deal. It is not only fans of free trade agreements who have noticed; we have all noticed that the SNP has never supported any trade deal negotiated by either the EU or the UK. It has abstained on Japan and Singapore and has been against Canada, Australia and South Korea—and even against Ukraine. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Thursday 30th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

Again, we have almost a full turnout of the Prime Minister’s trade envoys in the House this morning, and I commend my hon. Friend for the work he does as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy not just to one country, but to three—Angola, Zambia and Ethiopia. He rightly takes a strong interest in the UK’s forward-leaning and exemplary developing countries trading scheme. The scheme was launched on 19 June by my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Nigel Huddleston), who is now the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and provides duty-free or nearly duty-free access to goods to 37 African countries. The scheme was launched to significant media attention in Ethiopia, and there was a series of events in more than 10 countries.

I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson): the onus is on all of us in this House to continue to extol the virtues and the benefits of the UK’s developing countries trade scheme. We have taken the EU scheme and gone significantly further, making it more generous for developing countries. We should all be united in extolling the virtues of the UK’s scheme, and of the brilliant job the UK is doing to promote goods access to developing countries.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

T6.   Could I revisit my earlier question to the Secretary of State about arms export licences to Israel? I and many others do not agree with her secrecy approach, and I and many others believe that Members of Parliament are entitled to this information, so I will try another approach. Could she detail the classification and description of the goods, the stated end use and the licence type, including direct transfers and those via third countries, and could she place that information in the Library for Members of Parliament?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

T3.   The Scottish Parliament would be unlikely to ratify a free trade agreement that did not include a standard human rights clause, such as the one that the European Union insists on. The Government seem to have ditched those human rights clauses. Should not trade policy reflect the policies and requirements of all the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, not just those of the Westminster Government?

[Greg Hands]

The hon. and learned Lady raises the important issue of human rights, but the UK Government engage around the world in defence of human rights, as she will be well aware from all her interactions in this place. The Scottish National party has always opposed EU trade deals, and the deals that she mentions that include human rights clauses were opposed by the Scottish National party in Brussels. It is a bit rich to say that EU trade deals are great but UK ones are not when she has opposed every single EU trade deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Tuesday 16th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

I welcome Infinite’s work supporting renewable projects and my hon. Friend’s engagement in this. PPAs can improve the financial viability of renewables built without Government support. We anticipate that PPAs will complement Government mechanisms such as the contracts for difference scheme. Officials are investigating whether Government can play a role in encouraging further growth in the PPA market, and of course I am happy to meet my hon. Friend on this at any time.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

As my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald) said, Scotland’s world-leading carbon capture and storage project at St Fergus was snubbed by the Government in favour of their pork-barrel interests in the red wall. Will the Secretary of State guarantee the Acorn team funding in the next round, or should we conclude that Scotland can only decarbonise with independence?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Thursday 10th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

I know that the Secretary of State greatly enjoyed her visit last year to the farms in my hon. Friend’s constituency. CPTPP is a great opportunity. I referenced in an earlier question growing Asian demand for products such as meat and other British agrifood products. We see there being tremendous opportunities in that fast-growing market—13% of global GDP across four continents. This is a real opportunity to be able to sell British farming produce to those fast-growing Asian and American markets.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

What recent assessment she has made of the UK’s trading relationship with China.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Thursday 19th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

May I remind the hon. Lady, as the Secretary of State said earlier in response to a question from the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), that the UK has one of the most rigorous arms control regimes in the world? We follow the consolidated criteria at all times. On trade agreements, I ask her to judge us on our deeds and not always on our words. In terms of the trade agreements that we have rolled over, there has been no diminution of human rights clauses in any of those agreements.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

What steps she is taking to simplify the process of (a) exporting and (b) transporting UK goods around the world.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Joanna Cherry

Thursday 22nd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

The Prime Minister’s first bilateral trade visit in November 2016 was to India, accompanied by the Secretary of State and myself. We have recently completed a trade audit with India that looks at all the barriers. India is at times a difficult market for British exporters to crack. We have a lot of advantages in doing business there, and the trade audit and the joint economic trade committee talks led by the Secretary of State last month are taking us in the right direction.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the effect on UK trade of the UK leaving the EU single market and the customs union.