The government should walk away from trade negotiations with Gulf states rather than sign any deals that fail to address human rights abuses, a group of MPs has warned.
The UK is currently in talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over a free trade agreement, which it claims could boost the British economy by £1.6bn a year.
But human rights issues have already stopped the group of countries - including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - from signing a deal with the EU.
The report from the Commons International Trade Committee admitted a deal with the GCC would present a "good opportunity" for businesses.
But they also said it should be used to improve conditions in the region, citing concerns over the repression of women and the LGBT+ community, and crackdowns on protests.
"We urge the UK government to be openly prepared to end the negotiations rather than accept an unsatisfactory agreement," it read.
The committee also wants negotiators to push for pledges on decarbonisation and for the UK government to tighten modern slavery laws, preventing the country from becoming "complicit in rights abuses".
Its chair and SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said: "A trade deal with the GCC, like any major free trade agreement, of course represents a potential economic opportunity for the UK.
"But this particular deal is about something even more important. The approach we take here will be about how we see ourselves as a society, how we are seen around the world and whether we are willing to put our values on human rights and the environment on the negotiating table.
"We have heard promises in the past that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights. But the UK is negotiating a trade deal with a bloc including countries that the government itself has assessed as having particularly concerning human rights issues."
In its response to written questions from the committee, the government said the UK was a "leading advocate for human rights".
But it said free trade agreements were "not generally the most effective or targeted tool to advance human rights issues".
The committee also used the report to criticise the Department for International Trade - now part of the Department for Business and Trade - for "dodging parliamentary scrutiny" after it did not send a minister to give evidence for its inquiry, and responded to written questions late.
Mr MacNeil added: "The government needs to make plain what sort of trading nation we want to be.
"A trade strategy and transparent approach to scrutiny from a minister would have been helpful in this regard, but with no strategy forthcoming and the department's refusal to send a minister to speak to our committee, it is difficult to assess whether we will be getting the right deal which will benefit the UK and its people."
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "We are negotiating a modern, ambitious deal with the GCC, which could increase trade by 16% and add £1.6bn a year to the UK economy.
"The UK is a leading advocate for human rights. We continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold their international obligations and hold those who abuse human rights to account, including through our independent global human rights sanctions regime."
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April 26, 2023 at 08:11AM
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UK must be willing to end trade talks with Gulf states over human rights, say MPs - Sky News
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