Barry Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, ahead of EU-Canada approval of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), said:

“This government have held CETA to be a model of the type of trade agreement they would wish to see for the UK, and yet they have utterly failed to bring the terms of the agreement to Parliament for debate prior to their approving its go ahead.

“This sits ill with Tory ministers that say we are leaving the EU in order to regain our parliamentary sovereignty, and who are content to see an independent commercial settlement procedure set up under this agreement that bypasses the UK’s judicial systems.

“The courts that CETA proposes elevate international corporations to the status of nation states. They have the effect of preventing governments from passing legislation in the public interest where they might be deemed to damage companies’ prospective profits.

“This means that CETA could stop a future UK government from banning fracking on land in the UK.”