Leading Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill

UPDATE

At long last, after months of campaigning, the Government accepted the arguments I and others have been making and we secured huge advances for human rights and genocide around the world.

The historic legislation passed, thanks to our campaign, ensures that our new found trading freedoms outside the EU will not be used to allow us to trade with states that commit genocide, implicate us by putting slave labour in UK supply or enslave their own people without scrutiny. This is what the people voted for when they asked us to ‘take back control’ and the British public can now be assured that we will continue to be a world-leading power for human rights and genocide. Brexit was not a vote to downgrade British values, but for Britain to play a leading role in the world.

We repeatedly raised reports of horrific conditions facing the Uyghur and other minorities in prison factory camps in Xinjiang’s, slave labour in cotton fields, the state organised violation and abuse of women, the forced sterilisations, and the incarceration of over a million Uyghur. Before we started the campaign, the plight of the Uyghurs was barely whispered in the corridors of Westminster – now it has been shouted and etched into Westminster thinking.

Due to the pressure we exerted on Government, the Foreign Secretary also announced targeted sanctions against five Chinese officials and corporations complicit in the situation in Xinjiang on Monday 22 March. This is a significant win and the first time our Government has sanctioned Chinese officials under the current regime.

Finally, we didn’t secure the Alton/Ghani Genocide Amendment but with the Governments compromise we have established a process and principle that trade and genocide are linked. Never again will any country be able to commit genocide on their own people safe in the knowledge that it will be overlooked by the British Government or British businesses.

OVERVIEW

I am proud to be leading the Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill to ensure that the Government does not trade with genocidal states.

In December 2020, the House of Lords added an amendment to the Trade Bill, which introduces measures against genocidal states. The Bill returned to the House of Commons last night and the House of Commons got the opportunity to vote on this amendment.

I led a political coalition to protect the amendment, comprising of every opposition party, major community organisations of most British faith communities, and the former leader of the Conservatives, Iain Duncan Smith. Although the motion was narrowly defeated, the scale of the rebellion showed that the Government could not ignore calls to deal with the issue of genocide trade.

I continue to lead the campaign and I have tabled a compromise amendment. Because the defeat was so narrow, the Hose of Lords will be emboldened to adopt an improved amendment - the Ghani Genocide Amendment, which will return to the House of Commons on 9 February.

View my speeches in Parliament:

29 January 2021, FCDO Statement - view here.
28 January 2021, Holocaust Memorial debate - view here.
21 January 2021, BBC News coverage of vote on the Amendment - view here.

I have written various articles on the topic for national media. You can read them by clicking on the links below:

The Times, 11 January 2021: "The UK should be empowered not to trade with regimes overseeing genocide" - Available here. (PDF version attached below)
Jewish News, 14 January 2021: "We can halt the Uyghur genocide by ending business as usual" - Available here.
Politics Home, 4 February 2021: "China and genocide. Our new proposal answers Ministers’ objections. So they should support it." - Available here.
The Telegraph, 6 February 2021: "Regimes that commit genocide must not be rewarded with trade deals" - Available here. (PDF version attached below)

Read the media coverage below:

Mail Online, 9 January 2021: "Brutal, criminal and inhumane: Tory report's devastating verdict on the Beijing regime as party's grandees urge Boris Johnson to face down China" - Available here.
The Guardian, 10 January 2021: "Raab to clampdown on firms linked to forced labour in Xinjiang" - Available here.
The Sun, 10 January 2021: "SLAVE GOODS BAN: Britain set to outlaw Chinese imports with links to human rights abuse" - Available here.
The Times, 11 January 2021:"Boris Johnson under pressure from top Tories to take stronger stand against China" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 12 January 2021: "Raab's robust words on China don't stand up to scrutiny" - Available here.
The Spectator, 12 January 2021: "China’s human rights crackdown is getting worse" - Available here. (See PDF version below)
Evening Standard,12 January: "Dominic Raab slams ‘barbarism’ in Xinjiang province as he announces fines for firms in China using forced labour" - Available here.
The Guardian, 14 January 2021: "UK government faces battle over giving courts power to rule on genocide" - Available here.
Jewish News, 14 January 2021: "MPs call for political action against China over Uyghur persecution" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 15 January 2021:"US China hawks urge English courts to declare cases of genocide overseas" - Available here.
The Express, 17 January 2021: "Boris Johnson orders Rishi to spearhead new Brexit committee so UK can exploit Brexit" - Available here.
The Sun, 17 January 2021" Boris Johnson faces Tory revolt as MPs demand China faces trade sanctions" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 18 January 2021: "Tory rebels are ready to hold ministers' feet to the fire over China" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 18 January 2021: "Tory rebels' genocide law may block China trade" - Available here.
The Tablet, 18 January 2021: "Move to block trade deals with countries committing genocide" - Available here.
iNews, 18 January 2021: "Boris Johnson facing China trade deal Tory rebellion with ‘genocide amendment’" - Available here.
The Guardian, 19 January 2021: "UK proves world-beating at Covid deaths and prioritising profit" - Available here.
Evening Standard, 19 January 2021: "Tory MP Nus Ghani urges colleagues to ‘show what British values are about’ with genocide amendment vote" - Available here.
Evening Standard, 19 January 2021: "Tory MPs threaten revolt on Brexit trade bill over China ‘genocide amendment" - Available here.
Jewish News, 21 January 2021: "Voice of the Jewish News: Realpolitik must not permit this genocide" - Available here.

Please find below what we had achieved both with the launch of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee and the work we did to set the scene for the Genocide Amendment campaign

I have written various articles on the topic for national media. You can read them by clicking on the links below:

The Telegraph, 10 July 2020: "We must not stay silent on China's ethnic cleansing of Uighur Muslims" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 20 July 2020: "The only moral option we have is to defend the Uighur people from the Chinese state" - Available here.
Politics Home, 22 July 2020: "The incarceration of the Uighurs is a nightmare we have a moral duty to end" - Available here.
Jewish News, 22 August 2020: "Jewish News leads call for MPs to pressure China over Uighurs" - Available here.
Jewish News, 1 October 2020: "150 MPs and peers back Jewish News Uyghur campaign" - Available here.
The House Magazine, 1 October 2020, "Britain must not be a safe haven for businesses profiting from Uyghur forced labour" - Available here.
The Times: 5 November 2020: "Companies in Britain should not profit from Uighur exploitation" - Available here (PDF version attached below)
Conservative Home, 18 November 2020: "The Government must act to ban British companies from exploiting slave labour" - Available here.
Jewish News, 19 November 2020: "Jewish News’ Uyghur petition delivered to 10 Downing Street" - Available here. ( Front Page image is attached below)
Jewish News 14 January 2021: "We can halt the Uyghur genocide by ending business as usual" - Available here.

I have also spoken about the issue on Good Morning Britain (coverage here), on BBC Radio 4 (coverage here) and on LBC Radio (coverage here).

Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee Inquiry

Read the media coverage below:

Exotextile, 16 October 2020: "Inquiry questions fashion brands linked with Xinjiang" - Available here.
Yahoo!Finance, 16 October 2020: "Amazon, Nike, and IKEA questioned by MPs over alleged forced labour links" - Available here.
City AM, 16 October 2020: "H&M, Amazon and Boohoo among retailers to be quizzed by MPs over Uyghur slave labour links" - Available here.
Forbes, 18 October 2020: "Is Beijing Building New Detention Centers?" - Available here.
Drapers, 19 October 2020: "MPs calls on retailers in forced labour inquiry" - Available here.
Personnel Today, 19 October 2020: "PwC to resign as Boohoo auditor after working conditions inquiry" - Available here.
Daily Express, 20 October 2020: "China ROW: MPs erupt as UK relied on Beijing for PPE worth MILLIONS – ‘Dependent on China" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 31 October 2020: "MPs to quiz brands over Uighur labour risk" - Available here.
The Daily Telegraph, 4 November 2020: "Fashion brands 'can't rule out' links to Uighur forced labour" (PDF version attached below)
Business Insider, 5 November 2020: "A senior TikTok executive admitted the company used to censor content critical of China, 'specifically with regard to the Uighur situation'" - Available here.
Yahoo!Finance, 5 November 2020: "Boohoo, Nike and H&M deny Uighur forced labour in supply chains" - Available here.
The Herald, 5 November 2020: "Boohoo, Nike and H&M deny Uighur forced labour in supply chains" - Available here.
Kent Online, 5 November 2020: "Boohoo, Nike and H&M deny Uighur forced labour in supply chains" - Available here.
Reuters, 5 November 2020: "UK to big brands: do more to avoid forced labour in China's Xinjiang" - Available here.
EcoTextile, 5 November 2020: "Boohoo commits to map its entire supply chain" - Available here.
Just-Style, 5 November 2020: "UK holds hearing on exploitation of forced labour in Xinjiang" - Available here.
The Telegraph, 5 November 2020: "UK lawmakers invited to review TikTok's algorithm" - Available here (PDF version attached below)
Retail Gazette, 6 November 2020: "Boohoo, Nike and H&M deny Uighur forced labour in supply chains" - Available here.
The Times, 6 November 2020: "Fashion brands Nike and Boohoo deny link to Uighur forced labour in China" - Available here (PDF version attached below)
Daily Mail, 6 November 2020: "Bosses avoid the firing line in Boohoo staff scandal" (PDF version attached below)
The ‘I’, 6 November 2020: "Boohoo and Nike 'shocked' at forced labour reports" (PDF version attached below)
Personnel Today, 9 November 2020: "MPs shine a light into dark corners of fashion supply chains" - Available here.
Yahoo!Sports, 15 November 2020: "£14bn of UK products imported from 'dubious supply chains'" - Available here.

Other media coverage:

Jewish News, 8 January 2021: "Twitter urged to act on China’s ‘violent propaganda’ about Uyghur Muslim women" - Available here.
Jewish News, 14 January 2021: "MPs call for political action against China over Uyghur persecution" - Available here.

I have written to a range of businesses in sectors including fashion, retail and information technology, to seek answers in relation to the Committee’s inquiry exploring the extent to which businesses in the UK are exploiting the forced labour of Uyghur in the Xinjiang region of China. The letters include questions around supply-chain transparency and regarding evidence of compliance with labour, procurement and anti-slavery laws.

We have written to the following companies: Adidas, Amazon, BooHoo Group, Gap (Gap Inc.), H&M Group, IKEA, Marks and Spencer, Nike, Puma, Stella McCartney, The North Face (VF Corporation), The Walt Disney Company, TikTok (ByteDance), Victoria’s Secret, Zara (Inditex). The letters are available below:

Attachments

Attachment	Size
Nus Ghani MP: The Times, 11 January 2021: The UK should be empowered not to trade with regimes overseeing genocide (797.8 KB)	797.8 KB
The Spectator, 12 January 2021: China’s human rights crackdown is getting worse (1.54 MB)	1.54 MB
Nus Ghani MP: The Telegraph, 6 February 2021 (68.36 KB)	68.36 KB