Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for (a) her policy on investor-state dispute settlement in a future UK-Australia trade agreement and (b) the Government's climate change objectives of the recent use of that dispute settlement by energy companies overseas.

The Government is clear that our future investment policy will continue to protect our right to regulate in the public interest, including to meet our climate change and environmental objectives. There is yet to be a successful investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claim against the UK, nor has the threat of potential disputes affected the government’s legislative programme.