Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Goldie on 22 June 2022 (HL Deb col 224), what was the result of the inquiries that were made regarding cotton products used by the Royal Navy.

It is longstanding policy that the use of slave labour is a mandatory exclusion from contracts with the Ministry of Defence; this policy is currently captured within the Procurement Contract Regulations (2015). In line with this policy the current supplier of combat clothing follows a code of practice under which cotton sourced from countries or regions at high risk of forced labour or child labour is prohibited, including the Xinjiang province of China. This is subject to regular review, and inspections of overseas suppliers are performed to ensure adherence to this policy.