Lib Dems expose Labour’s promise of a vote on future trade agreements and table bill to guarantee MPs a say on Trump deal

The Liberal Democrats have exposed Labour’s previous promise to give MPs a vote on any future trade deals, despite Keir Starmer now refusing to guarantee Parliament a say on a future Trump trade deal.

In an official policy paper from 2021 now uncovered by the Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party explicitly called for a "guaranteed vote on the resulting agreements” of any trade deal with another country. 

Ed Davey said his party will this week table a bill in order to “hold Labour to their word” and ensure Parliament has its say on any trade deal struck with Trump. He warned that proper parliamentary scrutiny was vital given the potential impact of the deal on British farmers and online safety rules.

The document entitled ‘Labour’s Trade Policy: Putting Workers First’, states that “a future Labour government” would “reform the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Trade Agreements” to “ensure that elected MPs have all the time, information and opportunity they need to debate and vote on the UK’s trade deals, both before negotiations begin and after they conclude”.

In the document, Labour says that the previous Conservative government had shown their “contempt for Parliamentary scrutiny” by not allowing MPs a vote on a trade deal with Cameroon. The policy paper also described the “flagrant evidence of the inadequacy” of “proper oversight of trade deals”.

The Liberal Democrats are putting forward a ‘Parliamentary Scrutiny of Trade Agreements Bill’, which would implement exactly what Labour had previously promised to do. The Bill is set to be tabled in the Commons on Wednesday 30th April.

In response to a question from Ed Davey at Prime Minister’s Questions this week, Keir Starmer refused to confirm whether he will hold a vote in Parliament on any Trump trade deal. It comes despite reports that farming standards, taxes on US tech barons and online safety legislation could all be watered down.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“So much is at stake with this potential Trump trade deal. Farmers are at risk of being sold out just like they were under the Conservatives, while parents are really worried that online protections for their children could be watered down.

“All those impacted will be granted a voice if Parliament is given a vote, as Labour said they would in 2021. We must now hold them to their word.

“That’s why Liberal Democrats are putting forward a bill to do exactly this and to give Parliament the opportunity to hold the Government to account.

“This trade deal could prove to be one of the defining moments of the decade for our country, setting our relationship with the US and the rest of the world for years to come. Parliament must have its say.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

Notes to Editors:

The text of Labour’s 2021 position set out in their ‘Labour’s Trade Policy: Putting Workers First’ document:

Putting Workers First at home (page 11):

We will reform the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Trade Agreements, so that MPs have a guaranteed right to debate the proposed negotiating objectives for future trade deals, and a guaranteed vote on the resulting agreements, with sufficient time set aside for detailed scrutiny both of the draft treaty texts, and of accompanying expert analysis on the full range of implications, including for workers’ rights.

Box 5: Parliamentary Scrutiny of Trade Deals (page 13):

The government’s contempt for Parliamentary scrutiny was most stark of all in respect of its deal with Cameroon, one of the worst human rights abusers among the UK’s 67 non-EU trade partners. The government reached a provisional deal with Cameroon on December 30th. It took 16 weeks for any legal text to be published for scrutiny by Parliament, in the form of the final agreement.

When Labour demanded a Commons vote on that final agreement, Liz Truss responded that – since the treaty was similar to the EU deal signed with Cameroon in 2007, and that deal was the subject of a 14-minute debate in the House of Lords in 2010 – no further debate or vote was warranted.

Despite the flagrant evidence of the inadequacy of the CRAG Act to allow proper oversight of trade deals, the government repeatedly blocked numerous cross-party proposals to improve the processes for Parliamentary scrutiny and approval during passage of the 2021 Trade Act.

A future Labour government will return to those proposals, and learn from best practice in other legislatures, to ensure that elected MPs have all the time, information and opportunity they need to debate and vote on the UK’s trade deals, both before negotiations begin and after they conclude.