Slavery and Human Trafficking Statements

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The right reverend Prelate is absolutely right. As I just said to the noble and learned Baroness, awareness is absolutely critical. What astonished me—as it would many other noble Lords, I am sure—is that 10 years ago we simply were not talking about modern slavery, but now we are. Now we have a Conservative Prime Minister who has said:

“This is the greatest human rights issue of our time”.


When it comes to engagement and awareness, consumers are as important as everybody else. We can question the brands that we buy from and we can take care to spot signs of abuse of when we see them.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, currently companies have to have regard to the Equality Act and have to discuss issues at board level. There is no reason why the Companies Act could not be tweaked slightly to incorporate Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, which would bring much greater transparency and accountability at board level.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I am certainly not going to say that that will never happen. Businesses understand that this issue is not going away and that these statements have to be signed off by the board of directors. That means that these issues are discussed at the very top of a company, and that is important.