Tackling Forced Labour Practices

4. What steps she is taking with international partners to help tackle forced labour practices.

There is no place for forced labour in our global economy, especially when the victims are so often women, children and persecuted minority groups. We are working through a range of multilateral bodies, including the G7, the UN and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to eradicate forced labour from supply chains. We are reviewing the effectiveness of our rules on responsible business conduct to ensure that the UK continues to set the global standard on the elimination of forced labour.

I thank the Minister for his response. However, the UK’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has warned that without stronger action, we risk falling behind the EU and the US, and even becoming a dumping ground for goods produced with forced labour. Will the Government commit to introducing legislation that sends a clear and unequivocal message that the UK stands firmly against Uyghur forced labour, and will not allow such products into our market?

We are clear that no company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. We are committed to promoting and protecting human rights, including in Xinjiang, and we continue to work with international partners to hold China to account for its human rights violations. The Government’s review of responsible business conduct is considering a range of policy options to tackle forced labour.

As the Energy Secretary insists that we move as quickly as possible to renewables, may I ask the Minister what steps he has in place to ensure that the materials—90% of them are processed materials—used in renewables are made without slave labour and human rights abuses?

We of course support voluntary human rights due diligence by businesses, as recommended in the UN’s “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”. As I mentioned in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley), in the Government’s review on responsible business conduct, those will be some of the options that we take forward.