IlluMyFi

Retailer Boohoo has been found to have mislabelled items of clothing made in South Asia as "Made in the UK", according to a BBC investigation. A Panorama investigation found the company removed the original labels on T-shirts and hoodies at the retailer's controversial factory at Thurmaston Lane in Leicester between January and October last year. A spokesperson from Boohoo told the BBC the mislabelling was an "isolated incident" and a result of "human error". "We have taken steps to ensure this does not happen again." Boohoo is considering closing its Leicester factory and relocating operations. The company said less than 100 employees at the Thurmaston Lane factory may be impacted by the closure and it expects "some roles will be relocated". The clothing retailer said the plans to shut the site were not related to the findings of the Panorama investigation, adding that due to "significant investments" at its Sheffield and US distribution centres, it must take steps to ensure it is a "more efficient, productive and strengthened business". In November last year, a Panorama investigation claimed an undercover reporter working for the business found employees pressuring suppliers to reduce prices even after deals had been agreed and that Boohoo Group's Leicester factory had been subcontracting orders to Morocco. It comes around three years after the company overhauled its ethical practices after a supply chain scandal and allegations over factory staff pay and working conditions. Boohoo said at the time of the initial Panorama investigation that it "has not shied away from dealing with the problems of the past and we have invested significant time, effort and resource into driving positive change across every aspect of our business and supply chain".

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Bearish/Bullish

13.01.24 11:34

by independent.co.uk

Ed Davey facing general election challenge from former Post Office worker

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey will be challenged in his constituency at the general election by a former Post Office worker who is demanding justice for all those affected by the Horizon scandal. Yvonne Tracey, who spent three decades at the Post Office, said Sir Ed, who served as postal affairs minister from 2010 to 2012, can't be allowed to stand again "unchallenged" in his southwest London seat of Kingston and Surbiton, where she lives. Sir Davey, who has faced calls to resign over the hundreds of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses who were wrongly held responsible for accounting errors created by faulty software, earlier this week said he "deeply regretted" not getting to the bottom of the scandal but refused to apologise. Conservative ministers have accused Mr Davey, who said he had been lied to repeatedly on an "industrial scale" by the Post Office, of not asking the right questions. Ms Tracey, a 68-year-old grandmother, told Sky News those affected by the scandal are "still not hearing the truth", adding that the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which brought the affairs back into the public spotlight, made her "very sad" and "very angry". Sir Ed initially refused to meet sub-postmaster Alan Bates, whom the ITV drama is named after, saying in a short letter that it "wouldn't serve any purpose". He met Mr Bates later and he was the first minister on public record to do so. A sub-postmaster who ran a post office in Sir Ed's constituency lost his home, his business and attempted to take his own life on more than one occasion after being caught up in the scandal, Ms Tracey, who waselected to Kingston Council in 2022 and represents the local residents' group, said. "He tried three times to get in touch with Sir Ed and every time he was turned away, refused or ignored," she added. The Liberal Democrats said the sub-postmaster lived outside Sir Ed's constituency and parliamentary convention meant he was therefore unable to get involved in the case. On Wednesday prime minister Rishi Sunak announced new legislation to exonerate wrongly convicted Post Office branch managers after one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. The prime minister also said there would be a new upfront payment of £75,000 for some of those affected. Mr Sunak said a new law would be introduced so people wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal are "swiftly exonerated and compensated''. He told the Commons: "This is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history. "People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation."