I was bitterly disappointed to see the Genocide Amendment voted down by 318-300 votes last night with Conservative MPs once again prioritising economic interests over any concern for human rights. There was a sizeable rebellion but ultimately too few Tory MPs voted with their consciences on what was a shameful day for the Government.

After months of writing to the Foreign Secretary, I welcome sanctions finally being placed on Chinese officials guilty of gross human rights violations. Yet the Government followed up this concession by whipping its MPs to vote against the Genocide Amendment in the evening…

…as our Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said “It is designed to send a signal first and foremost not to the Chinese Government but to his own backbenches. It is motivated by a desire to protect the Government, not the Uyghur.”

We should not pick and choose which human rights abuses we condemn and which by our silence we condone – instead, we should stand up unequivocally for human rights throughout the world.

https://inews.co.uk/…/genocide-amendment-mps-vote…