Friday 25 September 2015

Gosh, Who’d Be Interested In Spreading This ‘News’?

According to [redacted], homes in Worcestershire could be crawling with Britain’s most venomous spiders over the next few months.
Yup, you guessed it
Pest management consultant with Basis Prompt, Clive Boase, said conditions are ideal for a significant spike in numbers in the autumn.
Blatant rent seeking. And this isn’t confined to small firms, either. Public sector employees show us how it’s done:
Consumers need to boycott and report car washes and nail bars staffed by people they suspect may be victims of trafficking or exploitation, the UK’s new independent anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, has warned.
Ah, right, well, of course they are.

Because if there’s not lots of reports of suspected slavery, we might well ask ‘Hang on, why on earth do we need an anti slavery commission?’…
“If you see a car wash, and it is clear that people look like they are potentially being exploited ... boycott and report,” he said, adding that consumers need to be alert to cut-price services, and consider whether the prices being charged allowed employees to be paid appropriately.
Why on earth does he think that’s ever going to be a consideration governing where people shop?!?
The government estimates that up to13,000 people in Britain are the victims of modern slavery, but there have only been 130 convictions connected with people-trafficking.
So, perhaps government estimates are wildly off the mark? As is so often the case...

3 comments:

Greencoat said...

This whole 'slavery' thing is just a load of bullshit, just like 'people trafficking' and 'climate change' - not a shred of hard evidence for any of them.

Mind you, I do worry about those unicorns....

Flaxen Saxon said...

More modern slavery! I'm all for keeping those pesky prices, low, low, low.

JuliaM said...

"...not a shred of hard evidence for any of them."

Which, given they are pushed by what should be evidence-driven agencies, is a worry.

"More modern slavery! I'm all for keeping those pesky prices, low, low, low."

I have to cotton to tote, sadly - do you think they could be trusted on a Waitrose shop? ;)