Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that Uighur detainees in Xinjiang are being used as forced labour, what assessment they have made of Huawei’s compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015; what consideration they have given to such compliance in regard to their decision to award contracts to Huawei; how they (1) assess, and (2) investigate, such reports; and what sanctions they can utilise in such cases.

The UK Government expressed its concerns about China’s systematic human rights violations in Xinjiang, including credible and growing reports of forced labour, during the recent UN Human Rights Council.

The Government is committed to preventing modern slavery in the global economy, including in our own supply chains.

We will shortly publish the first ever Government modern slavery statement and we have published guidance for commercial teams to assess the risk of modern slavery before, during and after contract award.

We are developing a government-run registry of modern slavery statements to make it easier for consumers, investors and civil society to hold businesses to account. We have also consulted on proposals to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act and increase the quality and compliance of statements.