UK Politics LIVE: Work charges for ‘Composed Tax Row’ after beating £ 25 billion India Trade Agreement

Britain’s new trade agreement with India does not undermine British workers, the trade secretary has said, pointing to offers with other countries, including one with Chile signed by the former Conservative government.

When asked whether the agreement meant that Indian workers paid less tax than British colleagues who did the same job, Jonathan told Reynold’s BBC’s Today program: “No.”

He added: “There is no situation where I would ever tolerate British workers who were undercut through any trade agreement we would sign. It is not part of this agreement.

“What the Conservatives are confused about and reforms too is a situation where a business in India seconds someone for a short period to the UK, or a British business seconds a worker to India for a short period where you do not pay at the same time to both social security systems.”

He added: “This is exactly the kind of deal we already have with 50 countries, with the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand.

“The Conservatives recently, a few years ago, when they were in the government, signed one with Chile for five years. So no, British workers don’t undermine.”

Labor has accused Tory leader Kemi Badenoch of conferring about a “composite row” of the newly beaten India trading agreement to “distract her failure” of securing a similar deal.

Hailed as a “landmark” agreement by Sir Keir Stormer, the government announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement to increase bilateral trade in India by £ 25 billion -in what marks Britain’s largest trade agreement after Brexit.

While Boris Johnson famously promised to enter into such an agreement from Diwali in October 2022, an India trading agreement has been evasive for the British consecutive prime ministers. The new agreement will immediately reduce customs duties on whiskey, gin, cars and cosmetics while reducing barriers to the import of Indian textiles, food and jewelry.

However, Mrs. Badenoch claimed that she had “denied signing this agreement”, while the trade secretary, partly because of a condition – similar to those already in place with more than a dozen other countries – that some Indian and British workers will avoid paying national insurance in the first three years in their destination country.

A labor spokesman accused Mrs. Badenoch of “desperately trying to distract from her failure with a composite row about a standard tax agreement that will benefit British workers abroad”.