PM Starmer hails fantastic trade deal with India in UK Parliament

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday hailed the “fantastic” Free Trade Agreement (FTA) clinched with India as he came down heavily on the Opposition Conservative Party for wanting to “rip it up”. During the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons, Starmer pointed to the Labour government’s success in completing the FTA negotiations with India last week after the Tories failed to strike a deal while in government over the past eight years. Starmer locked horns with Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch over the Labour government’s employment and business record.“The India deal is a fantastic deal, with tariffs on cars cut to 10 per cent, tariffs halved on whisky and gin, and GBP 4.8 billion coming into our economy. What does she [Badenoch] say she would do with the India deal? She wants to rip it up,” he said.
The UK PM pointed to Badenoch’s statements last week, which branded as “fake news” Indian assertions that the Double Contribution Convention (DCC) agreed to prevent temporary foreign workers duplicating social security contributions in both countries had been on the table during negotiations with the previous government.However, the UK government and Indian officials have pointed out that not only is the exemption reciprocal, benefiting British workers in India too, but it had been part of India's discussions with the previous Tory government when Badenoch was leading the negotiations as then UK trade secretary.
“The last government tried to do the India deal for, I think, eight years and failed — we did that deal… This former Trade Minister must be the only former Trade Minister who is against all trade deals that boost our economy. She says she is against the India deal, even though it contains the same provisions that she put on the table,” he added. The deal is now in the process of being finalised in draft form for Parliament approval before it can come into force.