Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the UK and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and the Human Rights Watch annual report published on 13 January 2022 which documented serious human rights violations in all GCC countries, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that any FTA with the GCC does not risk facilitating ongoing human rights violations in those countries.

The Gulf Cooperation Council is a major trading partner of the United Kingdom, with an overall trade relationship worth £32.4 billion in 2020. HM Government has recently completed a consultation to hear the views of British businesses and the British people directly on a future trade deal with the GCC and will look carefully at the results. We are clear that more trade need not come at the expense of our values.