The government must postpone ratification of the trade deal with Australia to allow more scrutiny by parliamentarians, the Parliamentary Commission said.
The European Parliament Committee has called for the government to delay ratification of the agreement as the first to negotiate, in a promise of £ 2.3 billion in profits since leaving the EU.
However, the government’s attitude towards parliamentary scrutiny of the transaction claims that a new report from the Commission “weakened the statutory process and showed great dishonesty to Congress.”
The chairman and SNPMP’s Angus Brendan McNeill said they were “consistently disrupted” in an attempt to fully consider the transaction.
This is not the first time the Commission has intervened to blame International Trade Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan for avoiding questions about a free trade agreement signed last December.
The international agreement must be submitted to Parliament, with 21 seats assigned to members and considering any transaction.
The process was triggered by the government earlier this month, and the Trade Commission has accused the government of repeatedly frustrating efforts to effectively scrutinize new and complex trade agreements.
In the report, MPs lamented the “permanent lack of clarity” in the parliamentary scrutiny schedule and called the demand for a guaranteed period to complete the report “not unreasonable.”
“We are very disappointed that the Government has repeatedly disagreed with our request to guarantee a grace period of at least 15 days from the issuance of the Article 42 report to the conclusion of a legal agreement. To complete and publish our report, “MP wrote in the report.
“Excessive ratification without the opportunity to complete a full scrutiny runs the risk of overlooking or ignoring the significant disadvantages of the Agreement,” they warn.
A spokesperson for the Department for International Trade said: This includes the 21-day period provided to trigger the process of constitutional amendment and governance law, as well as giving Congress more than six months to scrutinize statutory documents. ..
“We spent 18 months negotiating and signing ambitious deals between the UK and Australia, which allowed an additional £ 10.4 billion in trade and benefited consumers and businesses across the UK. I look forward to being able to do it. “
Ms. Trevelyan is to appear in front of lawmakers to provide evidence of the transaction, and the Commission has sought sufficient time for the report to be published before the statutory scrutiny process begins. I am.
It also hopes that the government will extend the scrutiny period and provide more time for the House of Representatives to consider and discuss transactions.
McNeil questioned the apparent need for urgency, as it was “extremely important” that the MP was able to properly scrutinize the transaction.
“Excessive ratification means that the potential disadvantages of a transaction are not fully revealed or understood.
“This can have a negative impact on businesses and communities throughout the UK.
“Given that ministers are keen to praise the strengths of this agreement, especially given that the Australian government has not rushed to ratify it on their part, the government should rush it without proper scrutiny. I can’t believe I’m eager.
“The government is rushing to scrutinize the Northern Ireland Protocol and we can now see the results.”