Until the UK leaves the EU, we will remain subject to EU trade & investment agreements and policy, of which human rights is a fundamental principle. The UK has a strong history in protecting human rights and the promotion of our values globally. We will in due course consider all options in the design of future bilateral trade and investment agreements.<\/p>
The updated UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (published May 2016) sets out our arrangements for implementing the UN Guiding Principles and our expectation that British companies should build respect for human rights into all aspects of their operations, both in the UK and overseas, and act accordingly.<\/p>
The objective of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) is to provide protection to investors against unfair or discriminatory treatment. Fair, non-discriminatory and proportionate action taken by a host state, including to protect human rights, would not breach an investment protection. As such, it is unlikely that a BIT could be invoked by an investor in a way that is detrimental to human rights.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1526", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Greg Hands"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Chelsea and Fulham"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Greg Hands"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-11-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "52473"} , {"_value" : "52475"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-11-14T17:21:38.777Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "202"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-11-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Overseas Investment: Treaties"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress has been made on incorporating the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into bilateral investment treaties to which the UK is a signatory.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4433", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bristol West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Thangam Debbonaire"} ], "uin" : "52474"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }