Hi John,
For the past two years we’ve been calling for parliament to have a say on future trade deals. We’ve been warning that unaccountable government ministers will have the power to slash regulations and entrench privatisation in public services after Brexit – unless we force a change of course.
At the start of the year parliament amended the government’s Trade Bill to put in place proper democratic scrutiny procedures for future trade deals. This was an important victory for our campaign.
But faced with the risk of being defeated on this, the government has been running scared. It has refused to put the Trade Bill back to parliament for a final vote. And when Boris Johnson’s government prorogued parliament last week, all of the bills currently before parliament, including the Trade Bill, were dropped. Some may be brought back in a new session, but the Trade Bill is being abandoned. So as it stands, this democratic step forward will not come into force.
With Brexit on the horizon, the next few months are crucial. Johnson’s government wants to do a trade deal with the Trump administration as soon as possible. US vice president Mike Pence was here earlier this month to say, “The minute the UK is out, America is in”. This deal could see chlorinated chicken on our shelves, US corporations embedded deeper in our NHS, and action on the climate emergency blocked. Yet MPs will be barely more than spectators,
We can’t let this happen. Your support could make all the difference. Please join us in standing up for trade democracy and to stop toxic trade deals, by becoming a member of Global Justice Now.
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We’re not giving up. There is already a mass of support for trade democracy in parliament, and it’s not something the government can duck forever. As we face the prospect of a US-UK trade deal being used as a wedge to force open our economy and society to an extremist corporate agenda of deregulation, privatisation and environmental destruction, we have to fight back. We need to hold politicians to account – and to do this we need your support.
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We know change can be achieved – we’ve stopped toxic trade deals in the past, like TTIP, the failed trade negotiations between the EU and the US. And we have already won support for trade democracy in parliament.
What happens in the coming weeks and months will affect our everyday lives. We need to stand together for a democratic approach to trade that will work for people and planet – now and in the future. Please join us today.
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Thank you,
Jean Blaylock
Trade campaigner, Global Justice Now
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