As negotiations over trade agreements intensify ahead of the UK becoming fully independent of the EU on 1 January, the British government has decided to set up a new advisory body called the ‘trade union advisory group’. The creation of the group, which brings together business and trade union leaders and has already met once, has been welcomed by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which is a member, and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the UK business organisation.
In a statement on 16 October, the UK government said the trade union advisory group aims to “advise government on how to protect and advance workers’ interests as part of UK trade policy”. While the UK already had a Strategic Trade Advisory Group (STAG) and a Trade Advisory Group, the role of this new group will be different and it will operate independently of the aforementioned bodies. Its mission is clear: to ensure that the Department for International Trade negotiates trade agreements that
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