After seeing news coverage of our planned protest outside the new Primark store in Tooting today the shop opened in a hurry yesterday. But that did not stop People Tree and War on Want supporters getting up early on a Saturday to show their concerns over Primark’s ethics.

I had been planning this protest with Naseem who volunteers in our local charity shop for the last two months and was delighted when War on Want offered to help – I’m fed up with gritting my teeth whenever I walk past Primark and when they upscale like this, the least we can do is show them that they are not welcome by all in Tooting
It was wonderful to see so much support from people of all ages and paths. People Tree customers, War on Want supporters, children, teenagers and local residents. Support from Tooting also came from its MP Sadiq Khan.
He said: “I am a strong supporter of ethical trading and have been campaigning locally to promote Fair-trade and to make Wandsworth into a Fair-trade Borough.
This week I met with Safia Minney, CEO of People Tree to discuss her concerns about Primark and action that the government could be taking.
I have read War on Want’s excellently researched report, ‘Fashion Victims II’, which shows that factory employees are still being exploited and are in an even worse financial position than before.
Working conditions such as the ones described in the report would definitely not be accepted here. We need to remind everyone that whatever the geographical difference between us and the factory workers who make our clothes, these are real people who just like us need jobs that pay enough to buy at least the basics in life, food, shelter, healthcare and education.”
Unfortunately Katherine Kirk, Primark’s Ethical Trading Director did not accept our invitation or appoint a representative to meet with us today to receive the letter asking Primark to deliver on its ethical claims.
In the coming weeks we will be asking you to put your name to this letter along with the hundreds of shoppers who took it today. Maybe then she would like to meet us. We could help her to improve practice. I would be happy to take her to Bangladesh and help her set up a dialogue strategy to improve conditions on the ground. It’s not difficult. Am I naïve? Perhaps improving the situation for workers is not what Primark and other fast fashion brands want to do – they’d rather ignore the problem in the hope it goes away.
Well it won’t go away as shown today in Tooting. People are feeling increasingly uncomfortable and want to be part of the solution in solving poverty and environmental problems.
Watch a video of the protest where I explain more about why we were there.