Extract from committee
stage (Lords) (day 2) of the United Kingdom Internal Market
Bill
(Lab) [V]...My Lords, we are obviously
in competition to make the shortest speech of the evening; I cannot
imagine why, because this is quite an interesting question,
although we had a partial answer to it in an earlier debate. My
take on it was not so much about the points raised clearly by the
noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh; I am worried about how acceptably
these phrases, put into this Bill at this time, work in a digital
world. It is clearly stated in the clause that we are talking about
businesses that are local and not local, businesses which are
located or not located in an area. We are talking about propinquity
and the ability of those who have to interpret these clauses to
understand where there are real businesses and how they are
operating if they are to be seen to be local.
That does not work for Amazon or quite a lot of
the shopping we will be doing between now and Christmas, which
will be largely digital in form. Is “hypothetical” to mean
virtual? I leave that rather complicated philosophical question
for the Minister to respond to...
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Extract from Committee
stage (Lords) (day 3) of the Medicines and Medical Devices
Bill
(Lab) [V]:...Evidence of forced organ
harvesting has grown and whistleblowers have emerged. Millions of
Chinese citizens are currently detained in labour camps. UN
experts estimate that at least 1 million Uighurs are being held
in camps in the region of Xinjiang. Elsewhere throughout China,
other ethnic and religious minorities such as Tibetan Buddhists,
Falun Gong practitioners and Christians are also being held in
labour camps. Companies from the West are complicit in this.
Adidas, Nike, Zara and Amazon are among the
western brands which, according to a coalition of civil society
groups, currently benefit from the forced labour of Uighurs in
Xinjiang. In July this year, a 13-ton shipment of hair products
from Xinjiang, worth more than $800,000, was seized by US Customs
and Border Protection. This shipment included wigs made from
human hair, which is hugely concerning considering the many
reports and personal testimonies of female Uighur Muslims having
their heads forcibly shaved in the camps...
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