Mr Speaker, I thank the Prime Minister for advance copy of her
statement.
This G20 summit met 10 years after the global financial
crisis.
And the 20 nations that control 85% of the world’s GDP have been
too slow to reject the failed neoliberal economic model that
caused that crisis.
But there are signs of change. On Saturday, I attended the
inauguration of a G20 leader President Lopez Obrador of Mexico,
who has won a significant mandate for change to the corruption,
environmental degradation, and economic failure of the past.
Of course, some G20 countries have no such democratic mechanisms.
So, while economics are important, our belief in universal human
rights and democratic principles must never be subservient to
them.
The Prime Minister told the media she would “sit down and be
robust” with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman - the chief
architect of the brutal war in Yemen which has killed 56,000
people and brought 14 million to the brink of famine. The Crown
Prince is believed to have ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Rather than be robust as promised, we learn that the Prime
Minister told the dictator ‘please don’t use the weapons we are
selling you in the war you’re waging’ and asked him nicely to
investigate the murder he allegedly ordered.
Leaders should not just offer warm words against human rights
atrocities, but back their words up with action.
Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and others have stopped arms
sales to Saudi Arabia. When will the UK?
On Ukraine - as NATO has said - we need both sides to show
restraint and de-escalate, with international law adhered to,
including Russia allowing unhindered access to Ukraine's ports on
the sea of Azov.
Britain’s trade policy must be led by clear principles that do
not sacrifice human rights.
The International Trade Secretary claimed last summer that a
trade deal between the UK and the EU would be “the easiest in
human history”. Yet all we have before us is 26 pages of vague
aspirations.
It seems that he is not very far forward on the 40 trade deals
that would be ready to sign the day we leave next year, unless
the Prime Minister can update us?
And in light of last week’s report from the Foreign Affairs
Committee, how does the Prime Minister intend to ensure the 240
expert trade negotiators she promised by Brexit day will be in
place, given they have had two years and there are only 90
currently in post?
Mr Speaker, did the Prime Minister speak again to President Trump
at the G20? He seems to have rejected the Prime Minister’s
Brexit agreement because it doesn’t put America first.
The International Trade Secretary claimed bilateral US and UK
trade could rise by £40 billion a year by 2030 “if we’re able
to remove the barriers to trade that we have”.
The Prime Minister claims that under her deal "we can and we will
strike ambitious trade deals".
But, this morning we learn that Britain's top civil servant in
charge of these negotiations wrote to the Prime Minister
admitting there is no legal guarantee of being able to end the
backstop.
However, it is clear that some in her Government do want to
remove barriers.
Just this weekend, the Environment Secretary said with regard to
the Brexit deal and workers’ rights: "it allows us to diverge and
have flexibility".
Our ‘flexible’ labour market already means that the UK has the
weakest wage growth of the G20 nations.
Did the Prime Minister ask the other leaders how they have fared
so much better?
UK capital investment is also the worst in the G20.
The previous Chancellor slashed UK corporation tax to the lowest
level in the G20, telling us it would boost investment. It
didn’t. So did the Prime Minister ask other G20 leaders why,
despite higher corporation tax, they attract higher investment?
Given the G20 is responsible for 76% of carbon dioxide emissions,
I welcome the fact that ‘Building Consensus for a Fair and
Sustainable Development’ was a theme of the summit.
Why then did her government vote against Labour’s proposal to
include the Sustainable Development Goals as a reference point
when the Trade Bill was before parliament earlier this
year?
If present trends continue, many G20 nations will not meet their
Paris 2015 commitments, and I’m glad the Government will pursue
this agenda at next year’s UN Climate Summit, and hope too that
the Government is pursuing it also at this week’s talks in
Katowice, Poland.
As climate change is the biggest issue facing our world. It is
imperative that a sustainable economic and trade model is put
forward that puts people and planet over profit.
Our country has the lowest wage growth in the G20, the lowest
investment and poor productivity.
Ten years on from the global financial crisis this Prime Minister
and too much of the G20 have failed to learn the lessons of that
crash.
