Hi John,
The Trade Bill has been amended to give parliament a say in trade deals. This is an amazing success and it wouldn’t have happened without the emails sent by thousands of activists across the country.
On Monday, the House of Lords debated the Trade Bill till past midnight, and the trade democracy amendment, tabled by Lord Purvis, was passed by 308 votes to 261. This is a big step forward for all of us who care about healthcare and the NHS, about food standards, about climate, about digital rights, about workers rights and all the other things that are impacted by trade deals.
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What’s next?
Unfortunately this isn’t the end. The bill will return to the Commons in the new year, and we need to defend what we have won. Please can you email your MP and ask them to support trade democracy:
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The government remains fixated on its insistence on doing trade deals in secret and it will try to overturn the amendment in the Commons.Â
We could see the spectacle of MPs voting to give themselves less power. Members of Congress in the US get a vote on trade deals, and so do MEPs in the European Parliament [1]. This amendment would give UK MPs a vote too, but the government will whip its MPs to say they don’t want this.
Many of you have emailed your MPs this year on trade, and many have got replies from Conservative MPs saying that they are committed to protecting the NHS and food standards. That we shouldn’t worry because they would never let a bad trade deal happen. Yet they could vote to make sure they have no ability to do anything about a bad trade deal when they face one.
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Last month, the government was forced to compromise with the Lords on trade issues in the Agriculture Bill. With enough pressure, they could do so again here.Â
We have a month to go. If your MP is an opposition MP, we need to make sure they’re ready and prepared to defend what has been won. If they’re a government MP, lets see if we can change some minds!
Thank you for all that you do.
in solidarity,
Jean Blaylock
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now
PS: Many people are not aware of how little power parliament currently has over trade deals and what is at stake in the Trade Bill. If you have time between now and January, could you write a letter to your local newspaper (or community blog or similar) to highlight the issue? We’ve prepared a template letter that you could use.
NOTES:
[1]Â This table shows the limits of what the UK parliament can do, compared with the US, EU and Japan.
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The US-UK trade deal could give corporations everything they want. Help us stop it.
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We are campaigning to stop the toxic US trade deal which is likely to lower food standards, weaken chemical regulation, increase medicine prices and block climate action.
Regular gifts give us the long-term stability to plan effective campaigns for a more just world. And they will help further the campaign to stop this toxic trade deal.
If you’re not already a member, will you join today?
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