Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on ensuring the alignment of UK trade policy with UK environmental and human rights commitments.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office works closely with other government Departments to ensure that the UK's independent trade policy supports our international environment and human rights obligations.

The UK is a leading advocate and is committed to the promotion of universal human rights which we pursue through international engagement and leadership. Having secure and growing trading relationships enables us to exert influence on a range of issues, including human rights.

The Government is committed to putting environmental matters at the heart of our new trade agreements, now possible thanks to our independent trade policy powers post Brexit. We will never compromise on our own environmental high standards, labour laws, animal welfare and food safety standards.

The UK has signed ambitious environment chapters in our Australia and New Zealand trade deals which preserve our right to regulate to protect the environment, affirm our shared commitment to the Paris Agreement, and strengthen cooperation on a range of environmental issues. Australia agreed for the first time to reference it's climate change commitments under the Paris Agreement in the UK-Australia FTA. Our FTA with New Zealand goes even further, by including the most comprehensive environmental goods list of liberalised tariffs in an FTA to date.

As the Minister for State for Indo Pacific I work closely with other cabinet members, including in the Domestic and Economic Affairs Committee on matters relating to energy and the delivery of our domestic and international climate strategy. As an independent trading nation, the UK decides how we set and maintain our own standards and regulations. We have committed to not compromising on our world-leading environmental protections, labour laws, animal welfare and food safety standards, and we remain a leading advocate for human rights around the world.