Boris Johnson must commit to ruling out trade deals with genocidal regimes in wake of Uighur report, MPs say

'Why, oh why is the government going out out of its way to block this amendment,' asks former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith

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Boris Johnson must climbdown and accept an an amendment seeking to prevent trade deals with countries ruled by British courts to be guilty of genocide, MPs have urged.

In the wake of a new report detailing human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority people in China’s Xinjiang province, the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith called on ministers to stop blocking the measure.

The amendment to the post-Brexit Trade Bill devised by the crossbench peer Lord Alton would allow the High Court to decide if another signatory to a trade agreement had committed genocide, with the findings presented to parliament for debate.

It is currently going through a legislative tussle between the Commons and the Lords — known as parliamentary “ping pong” — and earlier this week the government suffered a heavy defeat over the issue in the upper chamber.

MPs are expected to vote on the measure again on Tuesday, setting the stage for a significant Tory rebellion unless the prime minister accepts the amendment or negotiates a concession.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Duncan Smith asked Foreign Office minister Nigel Adams: “Why, oh why is the government going out out of its way to block this amendment that’s coming back to the House of Commons which will give courts the power to decide that this genocide?

“Let’s stop this nonsense please and allow this amendment to go through and to get the courts to make this decision of genocide. It will be a leading position from a British government. That’s the way to go.”

In response, Mr Adams said the government understood the “strength of feeling” around the Trade Bill, adding: “We do believe there must be more enhanced scrutiny for parliament on genocide and our response to this crime.” 

Alyn Smith, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said the time for the government to reverse its position on the amendment was “long overdue” while the Labour frontbencher Stephen Kinnock also called on ministers to accept the measure seeking to ban the UK from signing deals with countries accused of genocide.

Their comments came as the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani highlighted a BBC report exposing the abuses of Uighur Muslim women in detention camps in the Xinjiang province, which included allegations of forced sterilisation and rape. 

Ms Ghani stressed that there should be “no deepening of ties” between the UK and China until there has been a judicial inquiry into claims of genocide against the Uighur people, adding: “We cannot be bystanders to these deliberate attempts to exterminate a group of people, not again.”

Mr Adams also described the reports as “chilling” and called on China to allow unfettered access to the region by United Nations inspectors. 

He said the UK was “leading international efforts to hold China to account” and was committed to take “robust action”, adding: "We have announced a series of measures, the Foreign Secretary on January 12, in terms of the human rights situation in Xinjiang.

"This will ensure that UK businesses are not complicit in human rights violations. We are leading international efforts to hold China to account."