MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2021) The Trades Union Congress (TUC) accused the British government on Wednesday of making post-Brexit trade deals with countries that routinely violate workers' rights, stressing that London should do better to fulfill its human rights commitments.�
A new report by the TUC and its international partner ITUC found that five out of ten countries with the world's worst record on workers' rights had trade deals negotiated with the United Kingdom after Brexit. These include Colombia, Zimbabwe Honduras, Egypt, and Turkey.
"A government that readily agrees deals with countries which abuse rights abroad is one that won't stick up for rights at home either. It's time for ministers to stop the clandestine approach to trade deals and bring working people to the negotiating table," TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Moreover, according to the 2021 ITUC Global Rights Index, London continues to negotiate more such deals with another fourteen offender countries, including Brazil, India and Malaysia.
After exiting the European Union and, as a consequence, its collective trade arrangements with other countries, the UK had to negotiate new individual trade deals for itself.
In March, a recording was leaked to UK media of Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab telling staff that Britain would not shy away from trade deals with countries with sub-European human rights standards to remain economically competitive in the future.
