Launch of the 2006 Annual Report on Human Rights: Margaret Beckett speech

Launch of the 2006 Annual Report on Human Rights: Margaret Beckett speech; The second area I want to mention might surprise some of you: trade, when my colleague, Ian McCartney, who is here today, was given the human rights portfolio and at the same time made Minister for Trade, he told me that he had to deal with a few raised eyebrows: aren't human rights the thing that goes out of the window first when you start talking about business deals? But, I believe Ian has shown and will show, the two posts are not just compatible, they are mutually reinforcing, I would agree with that from own experience as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry / As a global actor, British business has as much of an interest as anyone in seeing a stable and predictable international environment, and because we trade and invest overseas, we have a similar interest in a stable and predictable environment at the national level too / In plain terms, it is always going to be a bigger risk doing business in a country where you can't find out what's going on because the press is censored, where corruption is rife and where the courts cannot be relied to give a fair verdict, so effective human rights also makes for effective business, and, of course, it goes in the other direction too, our trade relations give us an economic lever to raise and deal with human rights, so actually, because Ian combines those posts he gets through doors to talk to people who would be inclined to avoid a conversation purely about their human rights record / In saying that, I don't intend to suggest there are not some hard choices to be made when it comes down to economic engagement and human rights, there are times when we will be criticised - undoubtedly - for not taking a tougher stance against an individual country when we judge we would achieve more from political and social engagement, but how we make progress on human rights is always part of the so-called policy mix; it is never just a luxury we can di...
Launch of the 2006 Annual Report on Human Rights: Margaret Beckett speech; The second area I want to mention might surprise some of you: trade, when my colleague, Ian McCartney, who is here today, was given the human rights portfolio and at the same time made Minister for Trade, he told me that he had to deal with a few raised eyebrows: aren't human rights the thing that goes out of the window first when you start talking about business deals? But, I believe Ian has shown and will show, the two posts are not just compatible, they are mutually reinforcing, I would agree with that from own experience as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry / As a global actor, British business has as much of an interest as anyone in seeing a stable and predictable international environment, and because we trade and invest overseas, we have a similar interest in a stable and predictable environment at the national level too / In plain terms, it is always going to be a bigger risk doing business in a country where you can't find out what's going on because the press is censored, where corruption is rife and where the courts cannot be relied to give a fair verdict, so effective human rights also makes for effective business, and, of course, it goes in the other direction too, our trade relations give us an economic lever to raise and deal with human rights, so actually, because Ian combines those posts he gets through doors to talk to people who would be inclined to avoid a conversation purely about their human rights record / In saying that, I don't intend to suggest there are not some hard choices to be made when it comes down to economic engagement and human rights, there are times when we will be criticised - undoubtedly - for not taking a tougher stance against an individual country when we judge we would achieve more from political and social engagement, but how we make progress on human rights is always part of the so-called policy mix; it is never just a luxury we can di...
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October 12, 2006
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