Britain is a 'dumping ground' for £20bn in Christmas items made by modern slaves

Britain is becoming a 'dumping ground' for billions of pounds worth of goods made on the backs of modern slaves, LBC has been told.

Christmas decorations, kids toys, and even cotton t-shirts are being bought by consumers here in the UK, that were made using slave labour.

The government's Independent Slavery Commissioner is calling on ministers to look at new laws to bring the UK in line with the US and EU, and to help give struggling British firms a boost too.

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Research by her team, the charity Unseen, and Cherie Blair's firm, Omia Strategy, has found there is up to £20billion of goods which are currently flooding the UK market.

Firms in countries around the world are using underage workers, forcing people to work, or making them do so for little pay, or in poor conditions, she says.

And British businesses are unable to compete with those other firms on the market, which are able to sell goods at a hugely reduced price.

But it shouldn't be for consumers to have to figure that out, and the Government should act to stop dodgy businesses from being allowed to sell here, she says.

The Anti-Slavery Commissioner told LBC: "We know there's particular sectors and particular regions which are quite high risk. So for instance, Xinjiang in China is an area which is high risk, where things like cotton T shirts that we buy, children's toys, Christmas presents, Christmas decorations come from there.

"So they've got import controls, they've put new rules and regulations on their businesses to actually introduce measures to prevent it happening.

"But actually it's also a problem that's happening across the world with 27 million people, children and adults in forced labour.

"The EU and America have already acted, and Trump's already acted to say, I don't want goods made with forced labour entering the United States.

"It means actually the UK is dreadfully left behind and we are now one of those nations which is still allowing those goods to enter our country, putting us at even higher risk of becoming more of a dumping ground for products made with forced labour.

"Do we want growth to be at the expense of human rights abuses, or do we want to be growing our economy in a way that we're proud to and that we're protecting kind of our own businesses and also our own consumers in that process?"

Modern slaves can be found here in the UK too, working in carwashes, nail salons and other dark economy sectors.

And she warned that the government's push for Net Zero by 2050 also risks dragging Brits into coughing up for solar panels and other equipment made with unsavoury supply chains.

Earlier this year, the energy secretary Ed Miliband said minister will ban the UK's national energy company, GB Energy, from investing in projects that use solar panels linked to Chinese slave labour, after a backlash from MPs.

Ms Lyons added: "I think everyone would be really uncomfortable having our race to Net Zero being at the expense of forced labour and slaves in those conditions, and actually really uncomfortable going to the supermarket and inadvertently buying a Christmas pudding, which would be made in conditions that actually most Brits don't want.

"It's stuff like solar panels, stuff that's made with something called polysilicon and it's stuff that's mined from those places in China and then created in those forced labour camps."

BT, a survivor of modern slavery, told LBC: "The whole journey of being with an exploiter, you're just controlled by different mechanisms and being vulnerable, you're taken advantage of.

"There's a lot of survivors... who speak about just the coercion and threats to family and yet it's really, really dark.

"People do really dark things to keep you silent, to keep you quiet and to keep you within their power."

"Now the Government must act—and ensure the UK is never a soft touch on human rights abuse or a safe harbour for goods built on exploitation.”

Cherie Blair CBE, KC, Founder and Chair of Omnia Strategy LLP said: “Forced labour and other human rights abuses are not distant tragedies—they are hidden in plain sight behind much of our everyday lives.

"We now understand the scale of the human suffering involved, and the economic harm being caused. No responsible nation can ignore abuses that are hardwired into global supply chains.

“I have worked with businesses striving to do the right thing, but without legislation they are too often undercut by those who profit from exploitation.

Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of the charity, Unseen said: “Implementing mandatory human rights due diligence in the UK is not only a moral necessity but a smart economic strategy.

"Most importantly, shifting responsibility upstream helps protect victims, who too often bear the greatest human and economic costs of abuse. To be truly effective, any legislative framework must embed the lived experience of survivors and affected communities from the outset, ensuring the law is grounded in real realities and delivers meaningful protection."

A Government spokesperson said: "We’re committed to rooting out human rights abuses and forced labour practices from UK supply chains and we expect businesses to do everything in their power to prevent these too.

“We launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct as part of our Trade Strategy to examine whether further measures are needed."

The Government's Anti Slavery Commissioner also distanced herself from comments made by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the government, who have said that small boat migrants are using modern slavery laws to try to stay in the UK.

She's said that some asylum seekers are using "vexatious, last-minute claims" to frustrate the system.

Ms Lyons says that the prosecution rate being low for slavery was instead sending a signal to criminals "that you can exploit people in this country and you will not be held to account in a way that you should be."

But she insisted that claiming modern slavery was not a back-door route to staying in the UK.

She said: "I don't share her concerns in that particular area.

"If you are identified as a victim of modern slavery in this country and the Home Office confirms that you are a victim in modern slavery, you don't have the right to remain in the UK.

"It's not a backdoor entire country. We're talking about people who are trafficked here and are held in horrendous conditions, whether it be women and girls being exploited and raped multiple times a day in brothels across the country, or whether we're talking about children being used for county lines and by criminal gangs. These are vulnerable people that are being exploited by criminals and that's how we should view it, through that lens.

"We've seen year on year, the percentage of small boat migrants who are referred to our framework for identifying victims of modern slavery remain... around 13% of them get referred each year and even fewer are successful in being confirmed to be victims of modern slavery. Around 6 or 7% each year.

"Once they have been identified, confirmed to be a victim of modern slavery, they don't have the right to remain in this country. So I don't see it as being a backdoor. I think actually it's something where, sadly, people are being trafficked into this country and we shouldn't confuse immigration issues with human trafficking."