Jim Shannon

I thank everyone for taking part in the debate. I and my friend and colleague the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) have the same focus, demands and compassion and the same energy for this subject, and I thank her very much. She was right to underline the need for regular inspections, which I think would be instrumental in making the change we wish to see. She mentioned the crushing of young children’s dreams and gave two examples—an example always illustrates a story better than a thousand words, and she certainly did that. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) for his two interventions on modern slavery. He has the same interest in this matter. The Government, and the Minister in particular, have indicated that modern slavery issues have to be addressed at every level. The hon. Gentleman referred to due diligence legislation for imports, and I am quite clear that there is a role for Government to play on that. I thank the Lib Dem spokesperson, the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), for her contribution. She referred to the debts that are imposed on people and to the fact that the UK can and should influence Pakistan. She made the point clearly that we should all be equal in our religious freedom and human rights; unfortunately, the debate illustrated that so often we are not. She also referred to global support for tackling bonded labour and reducing slavery through legislation, and I thank her very much for that. The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), who is a good friend as well, clearly illustrated the Opposition’s position. He mentioned that slavery across the world is at its highest level, and that Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth and therefore our influence should be greater—and it should be; I agree with him. He referred to brick kilns as a prime example of what is wrong with the bonded labour system, in which people’s debts just seem to increase continuously. He also referred to Pakistan’s 1992 bonded labour law—something that Pakistan brought in and that Governments should be using to try to influence it. If that is the law that it has, then we should make it work. I thank the Minister, as ever, for her contribution. I have absolutely no doubt that she wants to see the change that we all want to see. However, as the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn and the shadow Minister both mentioned, we should be making a point of asking the Pakistan Government directly to act on inspections of brick kilns. We should be working closely with the NGOs that work in Pakistan regularly and have evidence and information. I am conscious that this subject is not the Minister’s responsibility, but if we have evidence—and I suspect we do—to show where things went wrong, can we send that evidence on to the responsible Minister to ensure that we can make a change? It is clear that the Government have a plan that they are working on. We want to work with them, through those who are here today, the NGOs and others, to bring about the change that is needed in Pakistan. Thank you, Sir Roger, for filling in, for your generosity and for the time that you have committed to be here this afternoon when you were asked to—we all appreciate that—and I thank those in the Public Gallery for coming along. I hope that Westminster Hall has done them justice today. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered modern day slavery in Pakistan.