Is the blood of those slave workers in Bangladesh squarely on our hands?

more than one unsafe clothing factory

This was only a few months ago, again in Bangladesh.

I meant no, their blood is not on our hands, or I suppose I can only say not on MY hands.

All those who feel it is on their hands could mobilise now to prevent the next tragedy from happening since I suppose there are more than one of these unsafe clothing factories around.

Yes Stansgran Dewhirsts (spelling?) factory in Sunderland made clothes for M&S (when M&S could say their clothes were made in Britain) and was a big employer in the region. The prices were no doubt driven by the ruthlessness of M&S (and many big retailers like them) and the factories in the UK could not compete with the prices available in India, Pakistan etc. The same could probably be said for Electrical goods.

petallus, would you care to elaborate on your 'no'?

Absent, I agree with you. We want cheaper and cheaper clothes - and that is the price to pay. Another factor is that so many people wear clothes for such a short time before throwing away - Primark t-shirts are worn just a few times. And of course, nobody mends anything now. A button missing? Chuck it. A bit of seam broken? Chuck it?

Those factory owners and the re-sellers want to make money - if WE asked more guarantees of safe production, decent salaries and conditions- and agreed to take on part of the cost ourselves in higher prices - they would make changes, because without those (verifiable) guarantees they would not sell. As in all retail, WE the customers determine what's what, and the price we are prepared to pay for this.

I think consumers have to take some responsibility for the choices that they make - always assuming they have enough money to make a choice. I have never shopped at Primark, but I understand the pressures of trying to clothe a growing family on a very limited budget. Having said that, it is very difficult to source so called ethical clothing, and we have to take quite a lot on trust. I think one of the problems is that we have become used to cheap clothing, and lots of it. A bit of sunshine and the shops are packed with people hunting for summer clothes, although realistically we will be lucky to have enough decent weather to wear them for more than a few weeks.

Last year, I read Factory Girls by L T Chang, which puts Chinese factories under the microscope. From this, I learned that it takes 9 or 10 hours to produce a pair of Nike trainers, typically selling in the UK for £70 or £80. You don't have to be a maths genius (which I most certainly am not) to work out that by the time the raw materials, advertising, shipping etc are paid for, there's not going to be a lot left to pay the workers.

The argument that countries like Bangladesh need the trade was also used to attempt to prevent the introduction of fair trade coffee and bananas, yet both these products have gone on to commercial success.

I agree with previous posters that we could reintroduce clothing manufacturing in the UK if, and it's a big if, consumers were prepared to pay the true cost.

We did have some excellent clothing being made in the north east, very difficult to find British made clothes now. Phase eight do say British made on their labels, at least on the items I have bought.

There used to be factories here in the NE where good quality clothes were made for top of the range names. They all were closed down because people love cheap. If you shop at primary matalan or Bon marche then feel guilty . I certainly don't as ive never been in one and as I look at the labels and try to buy British , but as some American said to me recently doesn't matter where it says its made its third world.

I agree with Riverwalk but I feel so powerless when all I can do is sign petitions and send money.

I agree with Riverwalk we should take some level of responsibility but the blame surely lies at the feet of the factory owners. How can the representatives of every British company (Primark, Mango etc) be expected to be at every factory all of the time?

No

If by 'squarely in our hands' you mean entirely our fault, then no.

Obviously Western companies and customers of Primark etc., bear some responsibility but countries like Bangladesh need trade.

The prime responsibility lies with the corrupt governments that blight the lives of their poor people. I heard on the radio that something like 10% of MPs/Ministers in BD are directors of clothing manufacturing companies.

Yes. It's the price paid for cheap clothes.

I started saying a variety of things here and then deleted what I had written on the grounds that I was just equivocating. The short answer is yes – and we should be ashamed for turning a blind eye until this horror happened.