Today I’ll be joining colleagues in the Shadow International Trade team for the debate on the Trade Bill which sets out the framework for new trade agreements after we leave the transition period with the EU.  Labour will be pressing amendments to maintain current food and farming standards, protect the NHS from competition from private sector providers, and defend protections for human rights, workers’ rights and the environment that have been mandatory in EU trade deals.

I’ll be watching this week’s crucial round of negotiations on our future relationship with the European Union, after pressing Ministers on it last week. Also in my role as Shadow Minister for Brexit and EU Negotiations, I’ll be speaking at an Institute of Government event on the outcome of the negotiations, meeting the Irish Ambassador, participating in a roundtable with manufacturers and joining meetings of our Shadow International Trade teams and Shadow Cabinet Office teams.

Parliament goes into recess on Wednesday and back in Sheffield I’ll have online meetings with the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, the Director of Public Health and senior Council Officers as the lockdown is eased further. I’ll also be meeting with university trade unions to talk about the situation their members are facing as a result of financial threats to the sector.

I’ll post my next weekly bulletin on 1st September when Parliament returns from recess.