Cameron will promise to force firms with a turnover of £36 million or more to publish annual statements in which they must admit any failures to address slavery or human trafficking in their supply chains.
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David Cameron hailed rapidly growing trade with Vietnam Wednesday, July 29, during the first visit by a British Prime Minister to the communist country, as a number of key business deals were signed.
Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda claim Gennady Sokolov, a Russian author and intelligence historian, had said secret service sources had told him that there had never been a bid to recruit Mr Cameron.
The UK’s larger businesses will have to issue a yearly statement to explain what they are doing to ensure slave labour and human trafficking is not being used by suppliers.
The British Prime Minister is on a one-day working visit to Malaysia as part of his four-nation visit to Southeast Asia namely Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia to boost United Kingdom’s (UK) trade and investment.
“That’s why it is so important that we work with Vietnam to identify what more we can do to tackle this issue together”.
Cameron said: “This measure is one of the first of its kind in the world and it will be a huge step forward, introducing greater accountability on business for the condition of their supply chains“.
The Prime Minister, who has used his tour of south-east Asia to speak out against the “cancer” of corruption, will press ahead with the visit despite calls from some Malaysian opposition politicians for him to cancel it.
Additionally, the UK’s independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland, will make a visit to Vietnam in the autumn.
“And it is unforgivable that we continue to see children going missing from care only to be re-trafficked elsewhere“.
Speaking at the meeting with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, Cameron said the planned Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam has a crucial role in consolidating trade and economic relations between Vietnam and Britain, reported Vietnam’s state-run news agency VNA.
The Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser has estimated that in 2013 there were between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of modern slavery in the UK. Business leaders already have a moral duty to ensure that their profits are not built on exploitation.
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The Prime Minister, who will this morning meet his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak, added to his itinerary talks with the premier’s critics.
