Tory minister ditches parliamentary scrutiny session after committee criticises her

Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan was due to attend a meeting on Wednesday morning

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been accused of frustrating parliamentary scrutiny over the UK-Australia trade deal (James Manning/PA)

(PA Archive)

Boris Johnson's international trade secretary has pulled out of a parliamentary scrutiny session at the last minute after the committee she was due to appear at criticised her.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan was due to answer questions from MPs on the International Trade Committee at 10am this morning – but the committee was told hours before that she would not be attending.

The MPs had on Wednesday morning published a new report criticising the government for apparently dodging parliamentary scrutiny on one of its planned trade deals – including failure to give evidence to them. The report was circulated under embargo the night before the appearance.