Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is the Government's policy to exclude investor-state dispute settlement courts from any new trade deals.

The precise details of any future Free Trade Agreement are a matter for formal negotiations, and we would not seek to pre-empt these discussions.

The United Kingdom has negotiated investment agreements with Investor-State Dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions with over 90 existing treaty partners and recognises the important role that investment protection standards can play in reassuring our investors abroad. For example, these provisions can ensure that the assets of British investors are not expropriated without compensation, and that they are not treated in a discriminatory or arbitrary manner.