"Tighten business rules to stop slavery, urges commissioner Sara Thornton"

In an interview with The Times, Dame Sara calls for stricter rules on businesses to stamp out the exploitation of workers after it emerged that no company had been censured for failings.

"Tighten business rules to stop slavery, urges commissioner Sara Thornton" (The Times, 27/07/20)

“Dame Sara said that the only available sanction under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act was for the home secretary to issue an injunction against a company and force it to write a statement. In the five years since the legislation was introduced that had never happened, she added.

Dame Sara said that while the sanction needed to be beefed up, the requirements for companies in writing the statement were also “not tough enough”. She said: “There is one thing writing a statement, it’s a completely separate issue about whether you’re doing the right thing and behaving ethically. It’s possible to have a pretty comprehensive statement but does that reflect reality?”

You can read the full article here.