The following letter was sent to the Times, but not published. I hope it has appeared in Al Hayat (in Arabic) and in the Muslim News. Both Mr J Ewins and Mr K Hyland QC can be reached c/o Home Office, Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF:
“This Act has received Royal Assent. It is a credit to the Government and to both Houses of Parliament. Many improvements have been made during its passage, for example large companies must now certify that their suppliers are not using slave labour. The role of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has been strengthened. The same will, I trust, be true of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, after promised consultations.
I have been mainly concerned with domestic workers from overseas, who comes here tied to one named employer. Because they are unseen when living in employers’ households, many have suffered serious abuse and exploitation, amounting to domestic slavery. The Government has moved some way on this issue. There will be a new Model Contract, pointing out the National Minimum Wage. Interviews overseas for employer and worker will be compulsory before the visa is granted. Both parties will be given information cards about rights and responsibilities.
Once the worker is in Britain, he or she can be helped by the National Referral Mechanism (originally designed for victims of trafficking). This is intended to give access to Employment Tribunals and the Courts. It may provide accommodation, and social and psychological support. Mr James Ewins is to conduct an official Review of the Overseas Domestic Workers Visa, to report by July 2015. Kevin Hyland QC is the new Anti-Slavery Commissioner and he is aware of the domestic workers’ needs for protection in post and rescue from bad employers.
I would like to thank the Minister of State at the Home Office, Lord Bates, for his part in improving the Bill and related issues. I pay tribute to a range of voluntary organizations, who have lobbied effectively.”
Of course Workplace slavery is abhorrent, and primarily both criminal and malfeasantly-tolerated.
So I join in supporting ‘bringing it to heel’.
At the same time, there are two further, but increasingly more insidious “slaveries” prevalent in the Lifeplace:
first the marketplace slavery to junk, and to surface-hedonistic consumer-‘goods’ and ‘foods’
via aggressively ‘instant-satisfaction’ and sensational advertising.
This includes suppression of healthy-living and wellbeing facts,
and ‘privilegocratic’ resorts to legislature-lobbying by self- bloating individually-capitalistic tycoons and mass-production companies, for profiteering, even also utilising subliminalities and ‘encastellated caveat emptors’ , “the winner standing tall”,
whereunder the junk-food-enslaved are left “cast down small”,
without sufficient personal-health and citizenship-wherewithal to “pro-test”
nor to amend the wrong-habits they have been surreptitiously made to feel to be “right”.
There is a similar “winner stands tall”, “loser collapses small”,
constitutionally adversary tradition,
in the Matter of Holistic Health Building:
(i) egalitarianly-holistic-citizenship-and-generic-health-building Needs and Rights,
and
(ii) individually holistic human developmental support, and emulably-sustainworthy leadership, from the introductory pages of serious and successful advances in Kpowledge and Know-How therefrom
such as as can be had, with minimal ‘face-to-face’, ‘hands-on’ and ‘one-to-one’ introductory guidance from an author, expert, or sufficiently-initiated leader, throughout Britain in every local small neighbourhood,
from a formidable bank of books and dvds which includes such Sources as
“Natural Vision Improvement” by Janet Goodrich;
“The Busy Person’s Guide to Easier Movement” by Frank Wildman;
“Relaxercise” by Bersin, Bersin & Reese;
“Six Thinking Hats” by Edward dec Bono;
“Do They Think You Are Stupid” by Professor of Thinking Dr Julian Baggini;
Also “Waking Up” by Littlewood & Roche presenting the actual workshop words of enablement by the brilliantly but subtly insightful late Charlotte Selver.