Cryptoasset Promotions in Sport

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2022 Westminster Hall

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

It is good to see you in the Chair, Mrs Cummins. I thank the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) for securing the debate, which is important not only because it dovetails with the debate that I secured two months ago, but because I agree with most, if not everything, that he said.

I began my speech two months ago by declaring my interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on blockchain, which has done a most excellent job of examining and understanding the blockchain—or, as I like to call it, distributed ledger technology. I remind Members who were not in that debate—the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) was—that cryptoasset promotion in sport was one of the first things I touched on.

Something of a watershed was reached during the January Super Bowl in the United States, as cryptoasset ads took up a large chunk of the lucrative half-time advertising. The adverts starred such Hollywood luminaries as Matt Damon and Larry David. A cross-platform, cross-interest advertising nirvana was reached as some of the most trusted personalities were crossed with some of the most trusted brands in American life. The cryptoasset companies that paid for those lucrative spots surely hoped that would impress the hundreds of millions of viewers in the United States and across the world.

Although I used the Super Bowl as my example in my previous speech, I could have gone for other examples closer to home. After the National Football League, the most lucrative sports competition is the English premier league. As the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme alluded to, there is no shortage of crypto sponsorship there, either. Most if not all clubs have tie-ins as a secondary or main sponsor. Quite simply, sports teams provide perfect synergies for advertisers. Unlike most institutions that command national and international respect, they are open to commercial partnerships, exchanging the cachet that their brand commands among millions of people for handsome pecuniary rewards.

It would be fair to say that issues of morality or due diligence have not always come to the fore when making commercial partnership decisions, as exemplified by the hosting of the world’s largest sporting tournament this month in a tiny yet fabulously wealthy sliver of the land in the Persian gulf, or in the way that one of English football’s most traditional clubs was purchased last year by a group close to the Saudi royal family. I would not ask Members to just take my word for it. The Financial Times, in an article examining the relationships between sports and crypto, said that

“the love affair between sport and crypto appears to be a perfect match, as franchises can deliver a wider audience within the demographic that digital asset players want to reach.”

The article also came up with the astonishing figure of $600 million spent by crypto firms worldwide on sports sponsorship last year, which is up from just $25 million the year before. That is an incredible growth that really demands further examination by anyone interested in issues of consumer protection and good governance, as the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme mentioned. The risks are obvious, and I will quote the Financial Times article from 27 May one last time to demonstrate that.

“Ronan Evain, executive director at Football Supporters Europe, a prominent fans group, pointed to the risks of ‘an unregulated financial product’. He said teams and players backing crypto assets were ‘considerably irresponsible’, as such tie-ups were aimed at ‘building the legitimacy of the product for an audience that wasn’t necessarily familiar with it’.”

That essentially gets to the nub of my debate in September —the grey areas that are allowed to flourish in the regulation vacuum, the lack of clarity around so many of the products that are being offered, and then the resulting fertile ground for the outright scams that will inevitably follow.

To give just one example, the—how shall I put this—lack of attention to due diligence given by many sporting brands has already resulted in pretty shocking examples of fraud. Take the example of Sportemon Go, something that described itself as an

“NFT-augmented reality sports trading platform”

when it signed deals to appear on the kits of two Scottish Premiership teams, Rangers FC, which I know the hon. Member for Strangford supports, and Hibernian FC, which I know my right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) is a big fan of. The company collapsed earlier this year after seeing the value of its proprietary “SGOX” token reduced to zero.

That is far from the only example of bizarre cryptoassets being lent a sheen of respectability by our own beloved sporting brands. The Guardian reported last year a press release from English champions Manchester City that trumpeted:

“We are excited to partner with 3Key”,

which I think the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme already mentioned,

“in their journey to simplify the decentralised finance (DeFi) trading analysis user experience through the power of football to engage with our fans with a range of content and activations.”

While that sounds like the marketing babble that most sports fans are used to, the real story was that 3Key lacked what could be called a digital footprint. It was unclear what services and products it sold, and where it was regulated. Websites associated with the company then went offline, and the club had no choice but to suspend the partnership. I could go on, but we have also heard plenty of examples from elsewhere today. I think there is a broad agreement that something needs to be done.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill, which has just finished in Committee—I was on the Committee myself—could have been one such avenue for regulation. However, to go back to the arguments that I made in my own debate two months ago, there is no legislation needed to clamp down on the worst excesses and sharp practices employed by some of those companies. That said, particularly when it comes to sports clubs—and individual athletes, a subject I have not really mentioned—there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the Government could be doing a lot more to protect institutions that ultimately command so much respect in our communities from the worst excesses and temptations that these sorts of bubbles can bring.

There is only one professional sports team in my constituency of West Dunbartonshire, Dumbarton FC—or the Sons, as they are commonly known—and they are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. There used to be two, but my hometown team of Clydebank FC folded in 2003 after poor financial decisions were taken by the previous owners, so I know, at first hand, the importance of these brands to communities. Thankfully, the Bankies are now climbing up through the leagues and got into the Scottish cup last year, for the first time since they folded, and I was delighted to be there.

We need to make sure that our communities and constituents are protected from the worst excesses of what I would call unregulated capitalism. When the Minister, whom I congratulate on coming back into Government—I know he is all over this and crypto is way up there at the top of his agenda—rises to his feet, will he therefore highlight the broad range of existing legislation that can deal with fraud and advise how the Government intend to work with sporting bodies across these islands to better understand why they are falling for this fraud and these scams? If necessary, as mentioned by the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, perhaps the Minister could also lay out whether existing regulations need to be improved or new regulations need to be added to the statute book to protect consumers. I know that Members on the Opposition Benches would at least support him on that.

Trade Deals: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2022 Westminster Hall

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

I thank the hon. Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall) for securing the debate. Members will know that I have a very specific interest in ensuring there is ample scrutiny of these trade deals—notably, any one with India. My constituent Jagtar Singh Johal has been arbitrarily detained in an Indian prison for almost five years, and the authorities of the Republic of India seem unable or unwilling to address the allegations of torture, abuse of process and arbitrary detention that have dogged the case and my constituent.

Quite simply, as the Minister may or may not agree, this is a case that really gets to the root of both this debate and the UK Government’s ongoing attitude to pursuing these trade deals. This is a case where we see the power of the unstoppable force—namely that one of the largest supposed benefits of Brexit was the ability of the UK Government to gain unfettered access to the world’s fastest-growing economies—meet the immovable object, namely the UK Government’s clearly stated aim, articulated so well by the sadly departed Minister at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the hon. Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti), that

“We will not pursue trade to the exclusion of human rights”—[Official Report, 7 September 2022; Vol. 719, c. 258WH.]

It is a matter of some considerable record, because I speak about it quite a lot in both the Chamber and Westminster Hall, as hon. and right hon. Members will know.

The human rights failings in the case of Jagtar Singh Johal are manifest and egregious. Despite this, we continue with a policy where a UK-India FTA has now become probably the greatest prize in the view of the Government, as long as the US-UK FTA remains unachievable. What can the Minister say to us to demonstrate consequences for the Republic of India for its continued mistreatment of my constituent or, alternatively, what it would have to do for the UK to threaten to pull the plug on these talks? Either way, it appears unarguable that in continuing to pursue this trade agreement, the Government are setting a precedent for future deals that human rights, and the rights of individual UK citizens, are placed below the pursuit of growth. In that sense, those who seek to defend human rights can probably join that distinguished list of those that the Prime Minister has labelled “the anti-growth coalition”. We see plenty of evidence in other areas that the UK Government’s pick-and-choose attitude to human rights and free trade agreements is making any claims to democratic accountability and oversight seem quite ridiculous.

Take the glee with which the Prime Minister trumpets the UK’s determination to sign a free trade agreement with a host of Gulf states, while speaking about preventing authoritarian regimes—such as Russia and, rightfully, China—from having any leverage in the UK economy. It is a truly bizarre situation. While I and other members of the Scottish National party have long called for the UK to wean itself off Russian and Chinese investments that have made so many people in this city and this Parliament enormously wealthy, the Government seem to be seeking to replace those investments with ones from regimes whose human rights and democratic records are essentially the same, and that—as demonstrated by recent OPEC decisions—do not share our broader geopolitical agenda. While we can correctly cite Russia’s assassination of dissidents by regime-loyal criminals as a reason to sanction it, we do not apply the same rationale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia when it invites dissidents into one of its embassies and chops them up with a bone saw. While China is rightly criticised for its debt-trap diplomacy in places such as Sri Lanka, we rarely use the same rationale when we allow Emirati sovereign wealth funds to buy critical pieces of UK economic infrastructure, only for them to sack thousands of staff and threaten the Government with the closure of that infrastructure.

Quite simply, parliamentary scrutiny of these trade deals starts and ends with hard and fast rules, which this Government can use to build confidence in the House. Otherwise, I have to say: what is the point?

I would hope that my colleagues in the SNP and I—and, I am happy to wager, the vast majority of Scottish voters—would never stand for swapping the largest democratic free trade agreement and single market in human history for a series of piecemeal agreements that are, from my perspective, of dubious value. We will never stop shouting about the absurdity of leaving that single market, composed as it is of democracies with whom we share so much, in exchange for a sugar rush of cheap money and dealings with authoritarian regimes that share so few of the values that we here in Europe hold very dear.

[Julie Elliott (in the Chair)]

I am introducing an informal time limit of less than four minutes to try and get everyone in.

--- Later in debate ---

[Greg Hands]

Let me take that in the spirit in which it is meant. I think we will agree to move on, but the hon. Gentleman has made his point. I am just saying that Ministers are always responsible for the decisions and actions of their Departments. That is a very good rule for how our constitution works.

My hon. Friend the Member for Totnes made various excellent points about better clarity and better comms. In my experience, there can always be better communication in the world of trade. There is always a huge amount of misunderstanding in relation to trade in general and free trade agreements in particular.

My hon. Friend mentioned outreach, which I will come back to. He also mentioned human rights clauses. The UK has an incredibly proud record—not only on our own human rights, but on the engagement we do around the world. Free trade agreements are not always the best way to engage on human rights—there are often better ways to do that—but we do make sure that, wherever appropriate, human rights are included in free trade agreements. We will certainly engage with all our trade partners on the issues that matter to the British people and the Government, be they human rights or trade union rights.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

Will the Minister give way?

[Greg Hands]

Let me deal first with the points that my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes raised and the specific case he mentioned. I will talk about CRaG in a bit more detail, but the other part of his speech was about respect for the International Trade Committee. I know from the times I have appeared in front of that Committee how important it is. It is ably chaired by the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Angus Brendan MacNeil)—I have mutilated the pronunciation of the Western Isles, but I have done my best. I say to my hon. Friend that our system of scrutinising international agreements and trade deals is at least as good as that in other Westminster-style democracies, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Unless something major has changed in the year I have been out of the Department, I think the UK shapes up at least as well as those equivalent systems.

My hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy), who is no longer in his place, talked about a lack of expertise in the Department, but I would say quite the opposite. I was there at the foundation of the Department in 2016, and we deliberately made sure that we had the expertise and the right people in place.

I am already overshooting on time, Ms Elliott. I have not done justice to a lot of the contributions that have been made, but I think that I have dealt with human rights. There was mention of China and Russia. Of course, there are no plans to make a free trade agreement with the likes of China or Russia. Trade policy is reserved, but we engage with and consult the Scottish Government and Welsh Government through the ministerial forum for trade, which I used to chair and which I think I will be chairing again.

The hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Sarah Green) talked about meaningful debate. The Department for International Trade always has meaningful debate, and we always have outreach to stakeholders. People have specifically mentioned farmers. I cannot tell you the number of outreach sessions that I did with the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru, the Farmers’ Union of Wales and the Ulster Farmers’ Union. The number of Zoom and Teams meetings that I did with them all during the pandemic was absolutely extraordinary. We did a huge amount of outreach.

I say to hon. Members that it has been a helpful and interesting debate. It has been useful for me to get back up to speed on parliamentary scrutiny. I appreciate that Members want to see more scrutiny and more debate. I am open-minded on that, and I will have a look specifically at some of the points that my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes raised in relation to current free trade negotiations.

[Anthony Mangnall]

I thank the Minister for his response, and I will write to him with the points that I have raised. Hon. Members might like to feed into that.

I might just say to the hon. Gentleman from Scotland that if he wants to come and talk to—

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

West Dunbartonshire.

[Anthony Mangnall]

I beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon. If he wants to come and talk to the International Trade Committee about human rights, we will raise it when we discuss the India trade agreement. I am trying to work on a cross-party basis, and we will raise that point.

When the Minister compares us with other countries—

Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement: Scrutiny

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

I am very happy to set out the process, Mr Speaker, if you allow me the time. There are four points. First, the Government may not ratify the treaty for 21 sitting days—days when both Houses are sitting—after it was laid before Parliament. Secondly, if within those 21 sitting days either House resolves that the treaty should not be ratified by agreeing a motion on the Floor of the House, the Government must lay before Parliament a statement setting out their reasons for nevertheless wanting to ratify. Thirdly, if the Commons resolved against ratification, regardless of whether the Lords did or did not, a further period of 21 sitting days is triggered from when the Government’s statement is laid. During that period, the Government cannot ratify the treaty. Fourthly, if the Commons again resolves against ratification during that period, the process is repeated. That can continue indefinitely, in effect giving the Commons the power to block ratification. Of course, that is what the Opposition want—to block the opportunities of Brexit from this trade deal.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

The first thing that leaps out from the stats on the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the export of 159 billion Australian dollars-worth of goods and services each year to communist China. The integrated review of 2021 stated that China posed a “systemic challenge” to UK interests, yet here we are attempting to sign a free trade deal with—I will be blunt, Mr Speaker—a state that has been enabling communist China to build capacity, clamp down on dissent and tighten its grip on Hong Kong with exports of raw materials for its economic needs. Can we assume that the Secretary of State will be ignoring the findings of his own Government in the integrated review and supporting China’s application to join the CPTPP alongside the UK and Australia, as he mentioned at the Dispatch Box only a moment ago?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I welcome that question, actually. The challenges—[Interruption.] Opposition Members heckle, but the challenges posed by those who do not play by the rules are challenges we should face head on. We are not currently a member of the CPTPP, otherwise known as the trans-Pacific partnership—the TPP—so it is not within our gift to support or block anyone from joining it, but what is clear is that we are first in the queue, we are looking forward to joining it, and we believe that like-minded nations who play by the rules should trade more with one another.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

We remain seriously concerned about allegations levied against Chinese surveillance firms with regard to Xinjiang, and we take the security of our citizens, systems and establishments very seriously. We have a range of measures in place to scrutinise the integrity of our arrangements. In addition, the Procurement Bill will further strengthen the ability of public sector bodies to disqualify suppliers from bidding for contracts where there is a history of misconduct. We have already set out a number of measures to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or contributing to the violations of rights.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

5. What recent assessment her Department has made of the progress of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

As I said a moment ago, talks with India continue to be positive, and on Monday we welcomed Indian officials to London for the fourth round of negotiations. An FTA offers the opportunity to deepen our already strong relationship, which was worth over £24 billion last year. We are determined to grow that, creating jobs in every corner of the country, including in whisky distilleries across Scotland, on which 150% of tariffs and taxes must currently be paid in India.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

The Republic of India has a respected independent legal system, and that will form part of the basis of the FTA between the UK and India. The Secretary of State will be aware of my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal. What importance do the Minister and the Government place on a well-functioning legal system that respects human rights and the dignity of the individual when progressing free trade negotiations with states such as the Republic of India?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for what he says, and he has raised this issue with me in the past. Her Majesty’s Government are committed to working with the Government of India to resolve longstanding and complex consular cases such as this. The Foreign Secretary met the hon. Gentleman and the family of his constituent on 9 June, and she committed to continuing to raise those concerns with the Indian authorities. Our strong ties with India benefit British prosperity and security, and vice versa, but we are clear that increased trade need not come at the expense of our values.

India-UK Trade Negotiations

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

It is good to see you in the Chair, Mr Davies. I thank the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for securing this debate.

It has been interesting and, in many ways, encouraging to hear the enthusiasm that Members across the House have for increasing links with the Republic of India. While some from my party and my part of the world can only support increasing trade, commerce and understanding between democratic peoples, I am one of the few discordant voices in this debate. I have to ask whether that is truly appropriate at this moment, especially while my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal, remains arbitrarily detained in a maximum security prison.

Having served as a member of the Defence Committee for five years, I am under no illusions as to the importance of maintaining good relations with India. It remains the largest democracy in a region where it can sometimes seem that anti-democratic voices have the upper hand. However, being a member of the Committee also meant I had more time than most to read last year’s integrated review and that I was fortunate enough to meet many of the people who wrote it.

The fine balance between interests and values is a major theme throughout the review and is something that we should continue to reflect on. On page 17, the review states:

“In the years ahead we will need to manage inevitable tensions and trade-offs: between our openness and the need to safeguard our people, economy and way of life through measures that increase our security and resilience; between competing and cooperating with other states, sometimes at the same time; and between our short-term commercial interests and our values.”

What about our Prime Minister? We know that he is, of course, a man of his word. In his introduction, he says that,

“By 2030, we will be deeply engaged in the Indo-Pacific as the European partner with the broadest, most integrated presence in support of mutually-beneficial trade, shared security and values.”

I would like to linger on the last word: values.

My constituent Jagtar Singh Johal was shopping with his newlywed wife in Jalandhar city on 4 November 2017 when he was suddenly assailed by persons in plain clothes who did not identify themselves. They bundled him into a van before speeding off, leaving his new wife distraught at the side of the road. It was not until he got to Bagha Purana police station that he realised those people were law enforcement. However, if that realisation made him think he would be dealt with humanely, he was wrong.

Jagtar alleges that from 5 to 9 November, the police interrogated and tortured him, including by means of electric shock to his genitalia, forcing his limbs into painful positions and depriving him of sleep. That torture is probably what contributed to Jagtar signing a confession and making a video confession that later appeared on prominent Indian news sites, both of which he subsequently retracted.

I have spoken about Jagtar’s case on many occasions in the House and I will continue to do so until he is released. Due to the time constraints we have today, we will have to gloss over almost five years in captivity, a move to a maximum security prison and the gradual realisation from all working on this case that we were dealing with arbitrary detention.

In my Westminster Hall debate last year on Jagtar’s case, I unfortunately did not hear any justification from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as to why it did not consider Jagtar’s detention to be arbitrary. However, I fully intend to make the FCDO justify that decision whenever I can. We should ask ourselves if we consider the treatment of Jagtar to be consistent with the pursuance of shared values in the UK’s foreign and trade policy.

My constant refrain during Jagtar’s detention has been for transparency, due process and the rule of law to be what the Republic of India is judged on by both the citizens of that mighty country and the FCDO. The integrated review quite clearly states that,

“we will increase our efforts to protect open societies and democratic values where they are being undermined”.

There is more than enough in this one case for me to ask all Members present, including the Minister, at what price do we pursue this deal? At what point is it incumbent on the UK as a state that seeks to protect open societies and democratic values to act when they are demonstrably not being adhered to? While it is, of course, for the people of the Republic of India to decide how they are governed, it is for us as democratically elected parliamentarians to decide how we sign free trade deals with them.

I hope I have made it clear that, although the benefits of free trade and cultural exchange are undeniable, they should not be pursued at any price. They should certainly not be placed above the wellbeing of individual UK citizens such as Jagtar Singh Johal.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gareth Thomas]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. That is why we need to ensure that there is no weakening of standards as Ministers, perhaps desperate to make up for the shortfalls in the trade and co-operation agreement with the EU, seek to rush to agree trade deals with other countries.

Ministers ought to be able to make fast progress on Scottish whisky tariffs. The Government of India are keen to tackle smuggling, counterfeiting and the loss of tax revenue, so the UK Government are pushing at an open door regarding Scotch whisky tariffs. The financial sector is emerging as a vibrant and dynamic area of growth in the Indian economy, but India ranks only 30th as an export destination for UK financial services. Figures suggest that Britain exported about £3.8 billion of services to India, with financial services making up less than 10% of that total.

An ambitious agreement on services could support and complement India’s economic development. Indeed, given the UK’s strong comparative advantage in high-value services such as digital finance, a deal that does not support real growth in services exports would be very disappointing. Again, on tech, the UK and India are among the world’s leaders in the development of new technologies. An FTA could help to develop business co-operation in advanced research and manufacturing capacity, in green energy capacity in particular, as well as in artificial intelligence.

For many small businesses, improving customs arrangements to reduce bureaucratic delays and red tape is key. An FTA should include reaffirming commitments to implement the WTO’s trade facilitation agreement, to ensure that there are commitments on the timely release of goods and express shipments, and a mutual recognition of authorised economic operator schemes. On the point of mutual recognition, a comprehensive and ambitious FTA, of the type promised by the Prime Minister, should also include progress on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and more robust regulatory dialogues.

Trade agreements are not a zero-sum game; there are trade-offs. One reason why better scrutiny of trade deals is needed is to ensure that there is proper debate about those trade-offs and the context of trade deals being done—a point underlined by the hon. Member for Strangford. One obvious issue in that regard concerns visas. The Secretary of State confirmed that nothing is off the table, and a multiplicity of sources confirm India’s continuing interest, and indeed priority, in a substantial easing of visa restrictions into the UK.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

While the UK was a member of the European Union, it was the fly in the ointment of a trade deal with the Republic of India, over two specific issues: whisky tariffs, and the fact that the UK Government did not want a more liberal visa position. Is the reality that now they cannot get cheap labour from Europe, they are looking for even cheaper labour from India?

[Gareth Thomas]

The hon. Gentleman asks an important question. My hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall underlined the concern we heard from many sources about the more illiberal regime on visas that was introduced by the previous Prime Minister. It is worth asking the Minister if he plans to allow, as under the Australia deal, a significant increase in access to the UK for Indian nationals. What will Britain’s ask be in return, regarding easier movement between the UK and India for UK professionals?

What is the Minister planning for ceramics? That is a key industry, which is hugely important in many specific parts of the UK, such as that of my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall South, and which is facing ever-growing competition from India. To what extent is the Minister factoring into the negotiations the needs of the ceramics industry?

One of the criteria that the Opposition will use to judge the Secretary of State’s negotiating skills is the extent to which the deal boosts development, improves equality of opportunity, and tackles poverty. Just as we believe that every community in the UK should benefit from the trade deals that Britain signs, every community in India should benefit from a UK-India free trade agreement. That is why we want to see chapters on labour and human rights—important points underlined in interventions from the hon. Members for Strangford and for West Dunbartonshire. We welcome the opening of negotiations, but we will monitor their progress very carefully.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for raising this important topic and for sharing his passionate belief in the importance of closer ties between Britain and India. I also thank Members from across the House for their broad support for the notion of a trade agreement with India. Although we do not have much time left, I shall do what I can to cover as much as possible.

The Government fundamentally believe in the power of free trade and free markets as unrivalled forces for good in the world, which is why we are pulling out all the stops to champion this great cause globally. We are using free trade around the world to forge new bonds of prosperity with nations worldwide, unlocking fresh growth for businesses of all kinds and sizes based across our United Kingdom. We are positioning Britain at the heart of a rapidly changing global trading system, in which the greatest opportunities lie in emerging markets and the fast-growing economies of the east, and the free trade deals that we are signing with our partners are key to that endeavour.

As has been mentioned, we have already signed deals with 70 countries plus the EU, covering trade worth £772 billion in 2020, and there is more to come. We have already gone above and beyond existing EU agreements with some of the world’s most advanced economies, such as Japan, and we have secured new deals with Australia and New Zealand, but we are just getting started.

To witness the fantastic potential of the global Britain that we are building, we need look no further than the deal that we are discussing today: the free trade agreement that we are negotiating with India. This deal promises to be a game changer for our economic partnership with the world’s largest democracy, opening the door for British businesses to a vast and fast-diversifying market of almost 1.4 billion people—larger than the population of the EU and US combined. The deal is bringing us closer to an economic superpower that, despite covid, was worth more than £2 trillion in 2020 and is on course to become the world’s third largest domestic market by 2050. As the world’s spending power shifts eastward, giving global Britain a greater stake in the Indo-Pacific is crucial, because it is a part of the world that represents over 40% of global GDP and contains the growth of tomorrow.

As has already been said, Britain and India share a trade partnership that was worth almost £24 billion in 2019—energised, as my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East says, by the living bridge of people and ideas that flow between our nations. We already share close business ties, including nearly half a million jobs across our economies, according to the Confederation of British Industry. Our financial markets are interconnected, with 35 Indian companies listed on the London stock exchange, and our firms partner one another in driving change across a range of fields, from finance to manufacturing, and from tech to transport.

There are innovative businesses such as the Indian firm Intas Pharmaceuticals, which has its headquarters in the constituency of the hon. Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas) and near that of my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East. There are many other such businesses across London, but we know that our nations could and should be doing far more together. That is why we want to strengthen the partnership with India further and faster, building on the bedrock of shared values, common law, institutions and, as the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) said, cricket.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

What do shared values mean, when a UK citizen born in this country—a full UK citizen with a full UK passport—can be arbitrarily detained by an ally?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I will address the points made by the hon. Gentleman and, indeed, by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) in a moment, but I want to make some progress on trade, which we are also here to discuss.

As part of the road map signed by both Prime Ministers last year, we have set the ambition of doubling our trade with India by 2030, as has been said. That provides a clear framework for our bilateral relationship in future. As part of the road map, we committed to deepening the economic relationship through an enhanced trade partnership, an ETP.

I was delighted to play a role in driving forward that partnership, which is already helping to increase opportunities for British businesses in India by tackling market access barriers, for example, allowing our apples to be imported into India once again—some say, for the first time in 50 years. The partnership has also secured improved access for British medical devices, as noted by Members; committed us to agreeing on mutual recognition of educational qualifications, as requested by the Labour Front Bencher, the hon. Member for Harrow West; and is exploring how we can increase our trade and co-operation in legal services, as raised by the SNP Front Bencher, the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry).

Major restrictions such as high tariffs, however, still hold us back, so a free trade deal between Britain and India holds the key to unlocking our enormous untapped trading potential. An ambitious deal could bring huge economic benefits, boosting Britain’s GDP by up to £6 billion by 2035 and delivering a triple bonus of higher wages, lower prices and greater choice for British consumers. We could slash taxes on British exports, such as whisky, whether from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales or even England—

[Mr Jayawardena]

I will make some progress. Whisky and cars, from across our nation, face import duties of 150% and 125%, respectively, in the Indian market. A trade deal could give British businesses a first-mover advantage over American and European firms in India, positioning our exporters—as said by my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier)—at the front of the queue to meet the expanding demand for world-class goods and services from India’s tens of millions of middle-class consumers.

Increasing trade-led growth could benefit Scotland by up to £220 million, Wales by more than £120 million and Northern Ireland by £70 million, while delivering tens of millions pounds-worth of growth across every English county, including counties in the west midlands, where a deal could bring a boost of up to £300 million, providing fresh opportunities for firms that do business with India, such as Aceleron Energy in Worcestershire and Fortress Security in Wolverhampton. Opening the door to further trade-led growth for firms in the south-east could see a boost to their collective economy of about £430 million in the long run. Such companies include manufacturer He-Man Dual Controls based in Hampshire—not in my constituency—and Larchfield Aerospace in Kent.

The trade deal has the potential to benefit SMEs, which account for 80% of British trade in goods to India in 2020. Smaller firms are disproportionately hindered by costly trade barriers and, as a result, they stand to benefit the most from a deal that cuts red tape and reduces administrative burdens.

Any agreement will be a future-facing deal, expanding the business we do with India in cutting-edge sectors that are shaping the global economy, pushing the boundaries of technological change from fintech to clean tech, automation and AI. As the world’s second-largest services exporter, Britain is perfectly placed to support Indian growth in those fields, taking our partnership in the industries to the next level.

None of that will alter this Government’s commitment to uphold British values. I said that I would address this point: we condemn any instances of discrimination of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of a particular country, including the Government of India, at official and ministerial levels. That continues to be so in the case referred to by the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Martin Docherty-Hughes), which the Foreign Office has raised more than 70 times—

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

rose—

[Mr Jayawardena]

I am afraid I do not have time today, but I am sure we can continue the discussion.

This deal will help to define the future for the global Britain that we are building. It will lay the foundation of our trade relationship with one of our strongest and most important global partners. It will place the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s biggest one side-by-side as we champion a world view that puts people first. It will shape how a modern, ambitious and truly global Britain is using the irresistible power of free trade to tear down barriers to growth.

Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).

Gender Recognition Act

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Christopher, and to hear so many Members speak with passion on both sides of the debate.

In 2015, the Oireachtas—for those who do not know what that is, it is the Parliament of Ireland—enacted the Gender Recognition Act for Ireland and subsequently sought review of that same Act, which was published in 2018. I am reminded of the words of the chair of the review, Moninne Griffith:

“Equal recognition sends a strong message to LGBTI+ people that we are equal citizens, we are valued, and we belong. As well as equal status, it also addresses the practical realities of citizens’ lives such as protections for families and access to identification.”

It is clear from all sides of the debate that there is a necessity to reform gender recognition. First, at least for me, the pathologising of trans people is an outdated medical practice that seeks to preserve trans identity as a mental illness that requires medical intervention. Secondly, it determines that the body of a trans person requires medical and surgical change—change that needs extensive medical evidence—when in reality it is not required. Thirdly, the present situation fails to meet internationally recognised standards that so many other states, some of which have been profoundly socially conservative, have embraced. I am mindful not only of Ireland but of Malta.

We must also accept that there are no new rights being introduced for trans men and women. For example, gender recognition reform does not affect sports competitions. From my perspective, at least, the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act provide that to ensure safe and fair competition in gender-segregated sports, governing bodies can set their own restrictions on participation by trans people, regardless of the trans person’s legal gender recognition status. Gender recognition does not give a person the right to compete in sports that apply that restriction. This will not change.

The gender reform legislation does not affect any NHS clinical decision-making process about minimum age and other criteria for approving a trans person receiving any medical interventions, including hormone blockers, cross-sex hormones or any surgeries. Those criteria are based on international clinical best practice and are set out, at least from a Scottish perspective—the Minister might want to look them up—in the NHS Scotland gender reassignment protocol. Decisions are taken by doctors together with the person based on clinical judgment.

Gender recognition reform does not affect the criminal justice system, at least from my perspective. As I think the Minister will agree, the placement and management of trans people in custody is based on careful risk-assessed decision making. A gender recognition certificate does not give a prisoner the right to move to accommodation for the other sex. Provision will continue to exist for prisoners who are legally female, whether trans or not, to be held in the male estate if necessary for the safety of other prisoners or for their own safety. I see the Minister nodding their head.

Not do I believe that gender recognition affects women’s rights or trans people’s rights under the Equality Act. The Act sets out when services can lawfully be single-sex only. I think we have heard that point put forward and argued on both sides of the debate. The Act also states that the general rule is that trans people should be allowed to access the single-sex services matching the gender they live in, except that they can be treated differently where that is a proportionate means to a legitimate aim, or excluded in exceptional circumstances. Whether or not the trans person has gender recognition is not part of the rule. None of this will change.

It is clear that much of the debate regarding gender reform has, sadly, been hijacked by a range of extremes, from the politics of biology to the inability to hear the concerns of those who, for various reasons, may be opposed to elements of the reform being considered or to its entirety. That does not lessen the concern, worry and fear of trans men and women who seek only to live as their true self, exercising their own individual self-determination.

We also need to recognise the appalling misogyny that many women, including many in this Parliament, face from those who use the gender recognition debate to ridicule and marginalise the trans community, notably via the politics of biology. I must say to the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) that I am mindful of the words of Norman Cohn, who takes the question of nature and the politics of biology head on. Norman reminds us:

“Nature demands inequality, hierarchy, subordination of the inferior to the superior—but human history”

is

“a series of revolts against this natural order, leading to ever greater egalitarianism.”

[Miriam Cates]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

No, I will not. [Interruption.] Actually, I will give way to the hon. Lady. She is taking up my time, though.

[Miriam Cates]

I would be interested to know how the hon. Gentleman thinks politics and biology interact.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

I think the hon. Lady acquainted herself with her notion of politics and biology in her own speech.

My only hope is that the UK Government will recognise that by embracing greater egalitarianism, they will reap the benefits of a society that is more capable of supporting the marginalised and more capable of combating misogyny and transphobia, and that they will for once recognise that the greatest threat to our society is not trans men or women but those who see the world as binary and limited: a narrow society in which the lived experience of the elite dominates the diverse and complex lives of the many.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Thursday 2nd December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mike Freer]

Our export strategy will ensure that those companies in Yorkshire will be supported through all stages of their exporting journey, whether through the UK Export Academy, the advice of our global network of international trade experts, or the financial support or export credit provided by UK Export Finance. In my recent visit to Leeds, I met our excellent team of international trade advisers there. Again, I am more than happy to put them in contact with my hon. Friend to provide additional support.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Exports from Northern Ireland to Ireland were €2.8 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 60% on the same period in 2020. Does the Minister agree that while Brexit has been an export disaster for GB, it has certainly been a boon for exports from Northern Ireland?

[Mike Freer]

The President of the Board of Trade, the Secretary of State for International Trade, my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Anne-Marie Trevelyan) took the Board of Trade to a meeting in Ireland. I am sure that that issue was discussed. If the hon. Gentleman would like to know more details of what we are doing to support mutual trade, I am more than happy to have a discussion with him.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mike Freer)]

I am more than happy to ensure that my hon. Friend is put in contact with our export support scheme, our international trade advisers, our export champions, and our Export Academy to ensure that the world-famous rock continues to be sold across the world.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Let us try again, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Exports from Ireland to GB soared in the first six months of 2021 after Brexit, as imports sent in the opposite direction declined. I wonder whether the Minister can come to the Dispatch Box and advise the House on this matter. With a post-Brexit imbalance in trade, with Irish imports up 20% in the first six months of 2021 and GB exports to Ireland down by more than £2.5 billion, do they not recognise that, for GB—not Northern Ireland—Brexit is a trade disaster?

[Penny Mordaunt]

From figures that I mentioned earlier, the hon. Member will know that the situation is improving for Scottish businesses. He will also know that the bulk of the disruption and slowdown has been because of the pandemic. We are now coming out of that, and we would love to have a constructive dialogue with his party and its Members of Parliament to ensure that businesses in their constituencies are getting the right support to seize the opportunities that are now opening up. If we provide the right support for businesses, this should be an exciting time when they will be able to thrive. I encourage the Scottish National party to come to terms with the fact that we have left the EU, and that we are determined to make a success of this and to plug the economy of every part of the UK back into the global economy. The sooner that SNP Members come to terms with that and start pulling in the right direction, the better off their constituents will be.

No-deal Brexit: Schedule of Tariffs

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Ah, the competing claims of Edinburgh, Strangford and West Dunbartonshire. What a taxing choice. I call Deidre Brock.

--- Later in debate ---

[Conor Burns]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. I have not had direct talks with the UFU, but the voice of Northern Ireland is very effectively represented in government by the Secretary of State and the Minister of State, and the voice of Northern Ireland will always be heard when the hon. Gentleman is in this House.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

In the last hour, the President of the United States has tweeted:

“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!).”

So I wonder whether the Minister can tell my constituents who are producing and bottling fine Scotch whisky—this is especially in relation to the next urgent question—whether these arrangements are to be used as leverage against the unmatched wisdom of the President of the United States in a future trade agreement of a no-deal Brexit?

[Conor Burns]

I am enormously grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. As I said, this is my first appearance at this Dispatch Box, but my cursory knowledge of these matters is that one is accountable at this Box for things within one’s responsibility. However vast the portfolio that I have the honour to discharge, the tweets of the President of the United States were not in my job description the last time I checked.

US Tariffs: Scotch Whisky

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Conor Burns]

The hon. Lady talks about the WTO and decisions being taken elsewhere. The WTO is the international body that does dispute resolution between countries and endeavours to work for an international level playing field in trade. I am not particularly fond of the word, but I thought there was great consensus across the House on wanting to follow an international rules-based order.

By the way, on this point of who has spoken to whom, I outlined the representations made by this Government to our counterparts in the United States, which have been made at the level of the Chancellor and of the Secretary of State to Vice-President Pence and to her counterpart US trade negotiator. We have made incredibly high-level representations on this subject and will continue to do so, because we have a determination to try not to point-score, but to come to a successful resolution on behalf of the Scotch whisky sector.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

May I first congratulate—I think I might be the first Member to do so—the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) on securing this urgent question? It is an important question for the entire House, not just for those of us whose constituencies are home to Auchentoshan, which—I will chide some Members—actually finds its heart and its spirit in the Kilpatrick hills. I should know: I illegally played in its distillery as a child and first represented it in 1992 as a councillor in Clydebank. Indeed, this very House’s house whisky—or hoose whisky—is Loch Lomond, found in the beautiful vale of Leven, and our largest export to Europe is Ballantine’s from Chivas, found of course in Dumbarton.

The Minister will know that this White House is the most transactional in history and will have seen from developments in, for example, Ukraine that it has thought nothing of ratchetting up leverage in as many ways as possible, as a precursor to securing concessions at a later date. Can he therefore say what the Government are doing to limit those 25% tariffs, or whether we are going to become another Ukraine?

[Conor Burns]

We are doing everything we can to try to persuade the United States not to do this. That has to be the overriding ambition of us all, across the House. I have said this a couple of times already, and will do it again very briefly: we all have the ability to contact people in the United States on behalf of the UK Government. The party the hon. Gentleman represents—

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

You are the Government of the United Kingdom.

[Conor Burns]

I was going to say to the hon. Gentleman —[Interruption.] If he wants to chunter, I can sit down—[Interruption.] Asking questions and then listening to the answer is how it sort of works, but if the hon. Gentleman wants to carry on chuntering rather than listening I can sit down and he can explain to his constituents why he did not get an answer.

Arms Export Licences (Saudi Arabia)

Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts

Thursday 26th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The issue in question is specifically about whether or not the process was followed, and today we have submitted an affidavit to the court with full details.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

With regard to the kindness of the House, may I be the first to thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dundee West (Chris Law) for securing this urgent question to expose the utter incompetence around this issue. Thousands of UK citizens, military and civilian, are working on projects that are designed to be beyond the reach of this Parliament. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that they are not involved in projects in Yemen?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The question refers specifically to the process of issuing export licences, and that is what I have been focusing on.