Today, people from across the UK are in Westminster for the Good Business Matters mass lobby, meeting their MPs to call for a law that holds businesses to account for harm to people and the planet. To coincide with the lobby, ETI and the Corporate Justice Coalition have coordinated an open letter to the Prime Minister, adding the voice of business, trade unions and civil society to theirs.

What the letter asks for

The signatories are calling for one clear UK standard, grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines. They want mHREDD legislation that:

• holds all UK businesses legally accountable for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent harm across their operations and value chains
• covers all human rights, labour rights and environmental harms
• applies to public and private sector organisations alike, in proportion to their size, influence and leverage
• provides access to justice and remedy for people who are harmed
• keeps pace with due diligence laws internationally, so UK business stays competitive

The letter is backed by businesses with a combined turnover of over £130 billion, including seven of the UK's major supermarkets and well-known high street names. They are joined by the British Retail Consortium, B Lab UK, trade unions including UNISON and the International Transport Workers' Federation, and civil society organisations including Amnesty International UK, Anti-Slavery International, Fairtrade Foundation and Friends of the Earth.

Why now

Voluntary approaches have had decades to work, and the evidence shows they are not enough on their own. Government figures show 40% of businesses fail to meet basic reporting requirements under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, without consequence. New Fabian Society research puts the cost of serious labour exploitation and environmental harm in the UK at around £4.4 billion a year, while a regime to prevent it would cost around £420 million a year: less than a tenth of the cost of the harm.

The public agrees. YouGov polling for Friends of the Earth found that just 8% of UK adults think voluntary agreements are enough to prevent human rights harms by UK businesses, while 74% want businesses operating globally to be legally required to prevent them.

"For almost 30 years, ETI has brought companies, trade unions and NGOs together to improve conditions for workers in global supply chains. We know good practice can't rest on goodwill alone. Our members across all three groups have agreed what effective legislation should look like, so the debate is no longer about whether to legislate, but how. We urge the government to commit to a proportionate law that holds companies accountable for preventing harm to workers and gives those harmed a route to remedy. We stand ready to help design it."

Giles Bolton, Executive Director, Ethical Trading Initiative

What happens next

Three parliamentary committees have already recommended mHREDD legislation, and the Government has gathered further evidence through BIST's review of Responsible Business Conduct and the FCDO's National Baseline Assessment. The letter urges the Government to publish both without delay and act on what they find. The signatories have offered to meet the Prime Minister or his officials in the coming weeks to discuss how a law can be designed, through meaningful consultation, to work for rightsholders and for business.

Read the full letter and see all 33 signatories

File(s)

Open letter to the UK Prime Minister: Organisations across business, trade unions and civil society call for mHREDD legislation

Leading businesses, trade unions and civil society organisations call on the Prime Minister to commit to mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation this session.

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