David Cameron could have been an anti-slavery hero

When I helped bring the Modern Slavery Bill to parliament I thought here, surely, was a piece of legislation that the PM would want to own. Three women — Theresa May, the Home Secretary; her then special adviser Fiona Cunningham; and Philippa Stroud, Iain Duncan Smith’s special adviser — had all worked for a Bill that would give the government a chance to seize the moral high ground, restoring Britain to its historic role as leader in the abolitionist movement.

David Cameron was within touching distance of greatness. But almost at the last moment, he stumbled. Wary of alienating the business community, he balked at the idea of stipulating that quoted companies must report on how they were checking their supply chains against their use of slave labour. He thought this would introduce an unnecessary regulatory burden on businesses.

In fact, a host of big businesses from Tesco to the Co-op, from Primark to investment bankers like Rathbones, would welcome the legislation. Slavery (by which we mean not just human trafficking but also domestic servitude) is the second largest global criminal industry. Slave labourers are invisible: it is difficult for the T-shirt retailer in London to know the labour conditions of the cotton pickers in India. By not forcing companies to conduct due diligence, to declare their supply chains slave-free, Cameron has denied them the best line of defence: ‘I checked my suppliers, as the law demands.’ This leaves them open to accusations of illegal practice and — just watch — lawsuits.