Responsible Business Conduct Review

It is good to be before you in a new role, Mr Speaker. In fact, even though I might not look it, we have an entirely fresh ministerial team before the House today. With your forbearance, may I offer the House’s congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball) on becoming parliamentarian of the year at The Spectator awards yesterday. I reap the benefits of her as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, and I am very grateful for it.

This Government are committed to harnessing the insight of a range of stakeholders in delivering the review into responsible business conduct, announced in the trade strategy. That includes producer countries and experts from the global south. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Fairtrade, my hon. Friend will be pleased to know that my officials have already held discussions with Fairtrade tea experts from India and Kenya. The Minister for Trade is also engaging with businesses, civil society and trade unions.

I recently met a campaigner from south-east Asia who is involved in freedom of association and independent trade union repression in the garment sector. With that in mind, and given that trade and business are facilitated through relationships, from national Governments to businesses to workers and their trade union representatives, does the Secretary of State agree that it is essential to involve stakeholders at every level of the supply chain, including those representing workers and unions in the global south, when informing the review of the UK and how we promote responsible business practices?

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s work in this area, the conversations that he has and the insight that he shares with the House, as recently as today in his contribution. The responsible business conduct review will be critical to ensuring that businesses respect human rights, labour rights, the environment and anti-corruption measures across their operations and supply chains. I reassure him that, in the conversations that I have already had with international counterparts in the few short weeks that I have been in this job, these issues, including forced labour situations and workers’ rights, are raised. British values and the expectations we have as a country are raised with our international partners in trade talks.