The chairman of a leading Parliamentary committee has told Ministers that they must “stop dodging” scrutiny of flagship trade deals.
The warning by Business and Trade Committee chairman, Liam Byrne, comes after publication of the Government’s response to the Committee’s report on UK accession to the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The cross-party committee’s report, which can be found HERE, called on the Government to allow a debate and vote in the Commons during the brief statutory period when the House has the power under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act to delay ratification of the agreement.
MPs on the Committee argued that joining the CPTPP raises contentious issues that the Commons must be allowed to debate.
In its response, which refused the request, the Government claims that parliamentarians have already had the chance to debate CPTPP accession. Mr Byrne responded that the Commons has not had the opportunity to debate all 30 chapters of CPTPP, along with the numerous side documents regarding UK accession.
“This is a change of era as we shift from a world of free trade to new world of trusted trade where new questions of economic security are at the top of the agenda,” he said, “alongside old questions of economic growth.”
MPs must weigh the prizes of trade growth against the potential price of new risks to the country’s security, Mr Byrne argued.
“I’m afraid the whole episode is conclusive proof that the way Parliament scrutinise trade treaties is no longer fit for purpose in this new age,” he concluded.
