MPs will vote on a free trade agreement with Colombia on Wednesday and campaigners are urging a ‘no’ vote.
Colombia has an appalling human rights record, and the country has been branded the most dangerous place in the world in which to be a trade unionist.
The government supports signing the agreement, but it is important for the Labour Party to vote against the agreement and not abstain as MPs are being urged to do.
In a letter to the shadow shadow business secretary Chuka Umannna, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis and other leading trade unionists are urging the Labour Party to send a clear message to the governments of Colombia and the UK that human rights should not be sacrificed for trade.
“The Labour Party differentiates itself from this coalition government by standing up for working people, defending the vulnerable, putting social values first,” says the letter.
“There is no reason why this shouldn’t be applied to the Colombian people too.”
Please write to your MP asking them to vote ‘no’ to any free trade agreement with Colombia.
Abstaining in the vote undermines Labour’s tradition of standing up for working people and defending human rights wherever they are abused.