A cross-party group of peers are to try and amend the government’s flagship post-Brexit trade bill to prevent ministers from making trade deals with countries that abuse human rights. Another check would come before any deal was ratified, with ministers obliged to show it would comply with the UK’s human rights obligations. Other possible trade deals which could fall under the scope of the amendment would be with Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. The human rights amendment also has won Conservative support. She added: “As William Hague said in 2011: ‘Where human rights abuses go unchecked, our prosperity suffers as well.

Source: The Guardian December 04, 2020 11:10 UTC