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Cherie Blair: Firms must end the scandal of modern slavery

16th May 2016

The Evening Standard Reports that “Cherie Blair has warned businesses that they will be forced to publish ‘more and more’ reports about their human rights performance as she made a new appeal to firms to help stamp out the ‘scandal’ of modern slavery.”

Mrs Blair, who is one of Britain’s most prominent human rights barristers, said that the “compliance and reporting burdens imposed on business by governments will grow with time” in response to official and public pressure for higher ethical standards.

She said that firms would be required to put increasing amounts of “sensitive information” into the public domain as a result, covering their performance over issues ranging from slavery to gender, equal pay and emissions.

Her comments came during a debate at City law firm Dechert on the Government’s Modern Slavery Act. Mrs Blair, right, added that slavery affected 35 million people globally and that UK firms and consumers were partly responsible because many victims “make and move the products that we buy”

Source: The Evening Standard