John Baron MP votes against Trade Bill amendment

MP says courts should stay out of politics

The Trade Bill returned to the Commons yesterday, having completed its stages in the House of Lords on Monday. Amendment 3 would have empowered the High Court to halt trade negotiations with a country if it determined that it was engaged in genocide. John Baron MP voted against this amendment, because it would be wrong to enable the courts to overturn the decision of elected MPs.

John said,

“This country has a long and proud record of standing up for human rights, both at home and abroad. It is right that these considerations should be at the forefront of the Government’s thoughts when embarking upon free trade agreements with other countries, as should they be in MPs’ and Peers’ thoughts when voting on trade agreements in Parliament.”

“However, it would be misguided to empower the High Court to overturn the decision of democratically-elected MPs. From the prorogation case we have seen the problems caused when our courts impinge upon the political domain. The spirit of the amendment is laudable, but it is not sensible to create a fresh problem which would also set an unwelcome precedent of judicial interference in the political sphere.”

“Setting up the High Court to determine whether a genocide is taking place would also be an abrogation of responsibility on Parliament’s part – the Government and Parliamentarians should be mindful of the situation, rather than waiting for judges to tell them what it is. It is up to Parliament to decide when sanctions take place, and with which countries we negotiate.”

“In any case, I have sufficient faith and confidence in my colleagues in Government, in the Commons and in the Lords that any trade negotiations would be halted, if even started, with any country involved in human rights violations approaching genocide. For all these reasons, I did not support the amendment.”