The Commons International Trade Committee says it has significant concerns about abuses in the region - but the government says free trade agreements are not 'the most effective tool to advance human rights issues'.
Its chair and SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said:"A trade deal with the GCC, like any major free trade agreement, of course represents a potential economic opportunity for the UK.
In its response to written questions from the committee, the government said the UK was a"leading advocate for human rights". The committee also used the report to criticise the Department for International Trade - now part of the Department for Business and Trade - for"dodging parliamentary scrutiny" after it did not send a minister to give evidence for its inquiry, and responded to written questions late.
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