Imogen James
Live reporter

It’s been a non-stop afternoon for the Business and Trade Committee, who were questioning representatives from McDonald’s, Tesco, Shein and Temu on labour standards.

There were tense moments at times, culminating in chair Liam Byrne describing the committee as "horrified by the lack of evidence" provided by Shein's witness, that it "bordered on contempt".

We're ending our live coverage here but there is plenty more to read on the afternoon's events:

• Shein lawyer refuses to say if it uses Chinese cotton
• McDonald's boss says 29 people fired over abuse
• How will the changes to workers' rights affect you?

Your editors today were Jacqueline Howard, Tinshui Yeung and Johanna Chisholm.

Your writers were myself, Frances Mao, Nabiha Ahmed and Ben Hatton.

In the third part of today's evidence session, the committee heard from Margaret Beels, the Department for Business and Trade's director of labour market enforcement, and Eleanor Lyons, the UK's independent anti-slavery commissioner.

• Beels warned that companies are using self-employed status to reduce their responsibilities to workers, adding that the system needs to be addressed as a priority
• Lyons said the UK is lagging behind other countries on supply chain transparency and called for more legislation
• She also said the UK needs a new "invigorated approach" to tackle modern slavery
• The anti-slavery commissioner criticised Shein – who had given evidence earlier – saying she does not believe the online clothing retailer is being transparent about its supply chains

Here’s a quick summary of the second session, where Shein and Temu gave evidence:

• Yinan Zhu, EMEA General Counsel at Shein, said she couldn’t respond to many of the questions about cotton sourced from China, supply chains, labour standards, and the company’s reported plans to list on the London Stock Exchange
• MPs were clearly frustrated by the lack of answers from the Shein representative
• The committee chair said her responses "bordered on contempt"
• Lawyer for Temu, Stephen Heary, said the company does not allow sellers from the Xinjiang region
• Both Shein and Temu outlined their compliance policies, saying they’ve removed sellers and traders who breached standards, including those related to child labour or excessive overtime

Committee Chair Liam Byrne called today's evidence "quite shocking". Here's all you need to know about the session that opened it:

• McDonald's CEO Alistair Macrow was asked if McDonald’s had become “a predator's paradise"
• Macrow called the findings of the BBC investigation into McDonald’s worker harassment “abhorrent” and “unacceptable”. Despite Byrne describing these cases to show a “pattern of abuse”, Macrow insisted the issues are “not widespread”. He also defended zero hour contracts
• Tesco director, Claire Lorains said a criminal gang was behind the recruitment of alleged modern slavery victims
• She said that Tesco hasn’t sourced products from Xinjiang in China since 2022, and it only did so due to a “technical failure”
• Andrew Opie, Director of Food and Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium claimed that "very little" had been done about modern slavery since 2015. And, that there are more things the government could do to intervene to block goods linked to slavery from entering the market

Shein does little to inspire confidence in MPspublished at 17:49 Greenwich Mean Time 7 January

17:49 GMT 7 January

Simon Jack
Business editor

The Business Select Committee chair was getting pretty frustrated at the testimony of fast fashion retailer Shein's General Counsel Yinan Zhu who would not give a straight answer to Liam Byrnes opening question as to whether Shein products contain any cotton from China - let alone from controversial Xinjiang region.

The answer is obviously yes but Zhu has said she would prefer to give a written answer to the committee.

Lib Dem MP Charlie Maynard accuses Shein's General Counsel Yinan Zhu of disrespecting the committee by refusing to answer even the most basic questions.

Zhu has said she was answering the questions to her best ability. Maynard replied by saying he did not believe that was true calling her efforts "ridiculous".

An exasperated Byrne told the Shein lawyer that her testimony to the Business Select Committee bordered on contempt and that he was horrified that a company that sold over £1bn worth of goods to the UK and was seeking a listing on the London Stock Exchange refused to answer basic question such as whether Shein products contained Chinese cotton.

He said that Zhu's appearance had generated "zero" confidence about the company's supply chain.

In comparison, e-commerce rival Temu's representative got higher marks from the committee as he rattled through the company's compliance policies.

In the end, this session will not decide whether Shein lists in the UK or not but Zhu did little to inspire confidence and trust of UK MPs today.

Did zero-hour contracts lead to an imbalance of power at McDonald's?published at 17:42 Greenwich Mean Time 7 January

17:42 GMT 7 January

Zoe Conway
Employment correspondent

The McDonald’s Chief Executive was repeatedly asked by committee members whether the widespread use of zero-hours contracts at McDonald’s has led to an imbalance of power that has caused sexual harassment to flourish.

Alistair Macrow pushed back against this, saying his workers choose to be on zero hours contracts and that sexual harassment isn’t about contracts it’s about very poor behaviour by ‘bad minded’ people and says he is angry that people think they can behave this way.

Macrow was also asked about a legally binding agreement it signed with the equality watchdog the EHRC in 2023, promising to protect its workforce from sexual harassment.

The BBC understands that the watchdog is planning to take steps to strengthen that agreement because McDonald’s has not gone far enough in protecting its workforce.

But at the committee session, the Chief Executive has pushed back against that characterisation saying the agreement is merely "evolving".

Talks between the watchdog and the company, which are for legal reasons confidential, are ongoing.

This session has now ended, with evidence described as "candid and compelling, in sharp contrast to a lot of the evidence that we have heard this afternoon," says chair Liam Byrne.

That's it for today's proceedings.

Stay with us, though – we’ll have plenty of analysis coming up.

Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons says the Modern Slavery Act is fit for purpose, but there are challenges in its enforcement.

She states that organisations need resources to carry out proper investigations, adding that the UK has fallen behind in the transparency of supply chains.

The commissioner emphasises that the government should assess whether import bans would be effective, but describes this as the "third part of the puzzle". Before considering import bans, Lyons says the UK must establish the right labour market enforcement system and clear supply chain legislation.

"Before we've got those two things lined up, I don't think import bans are the right thing to focus on."

More from Beels now, who reiterates that employment status should be addressed as a priority.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) director discusses the "chain" created by the way agencies engage with workers, which she says results in them being designated as self-employed.

Businesses "shuffling off their responsibilities" is not what self-employed status was intended to represent, she says.

When asked if she is concerned that the timetable for making changes to that definition might be slipping, she responds: "Yes."

Returning to Beels, she stresses that there need to be protections for migrant workers to report exploitation without fear.

The director of labour market enforcement raises Australia as an example, where legislation has been introduced so that "if a worker on a work visa reports exploitation, their right to work status is not factored in to them reporting".

"There needs to be an expectation for workers that they can report to authorities and that will not prejudice their right to be in the UK."

Another line from Lyons now, who has raised concerns about Shein listing on the London Stock Exchange.

"I don't think they are being transparent about what is going on in their supply chains."

Eleanor Lyons, the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, says there is concern that the UK has the highest number of victims of modern slavery.

Lyons says a "fragmented labour market" means workers are more at risk, and enforcement bodies are under-resourced, so they cannot catch lower-level violations before they escalate into modern slavery.

There is also fragmentation across government regarding whose responsibility it is to tackle slavery, adds Lyons.

"We need a new, invigorated approach to tackle it as a whole," she says.

Margaret Beels, Director of Labour Market Enforcement, goes on by saying that she is "really worried" about the construction industry, which is already experiencing "bad practices".

"Where's the workforce going to come from... and what additional risks will that pose?" she asks, referring to the government's plan to build more homes.

Beels also describes the creation of the Fair Work Agency, the new body the government plans to set up, as a "huge enterprise".

She warns there’s a risk that "enforcement eyes are taken off the ball" if too much attention is focused on setting up the agency.

Committee Chair Liam Byrne begins by asking why labour standards are "so poor in this country right now".

Margaret Beels says some would argue that not enough is being done to promote those standards.

Byrne says the evidence the committee has heard today has been "quite shocking" and paints a picture of labour standards deteriorating – he asks what is happening.

More and more workers are being "shuffled" into what are deemed to be self-employment situations, Beels says, adding that this is not appropriate for self-employment and places greater risks on the workers.

Care workers are one such example, she adds, saying the idea of them working on zero-hours contracts and not being paid properly for their travel time is a "disgrace".

Image source, UK PARLIAMENT

We're into the third and final session of this committee, where lawmakers will hear from Margaret Beels, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement at the UK's Department for Business and Trade, and Eleanor Lyons, the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

With that, this session with Shein and Temu comes to an end.

The chair, Liam Byrne, says it has been "extremely helpful", but has some scathing remarks for Shein.

"The committee has been pretty horrified by the lack of evidence that you have provided today, you've given us almost zero confidence in the integrity of your supply chains," Byrne says.

Their reluctance to answer basic questions has "bordered on contempt" of the committee, he says.

Liberal Democrat MP Joshua Reynolds asks how many working hours would be appropriate for a shop floor worker at a supplier for Shein.

"Would you say 50 hours a week?" asks the Lib Dem MP.

Zhu does not specify how many hours would be appropriate.

Instead, the Shein representative says suppliers are required to comply with both Shein's policies and local regulations.

She adds that some suppliers have had their contracts terminated due to excessive overtime.

Now Shein and Temu are questioned about their outsourced suppliers.

Shein's general counsel Yinan Zhu states there is limited outsourcing. She says many suppliers are small to medium-sized businesses, and they have worked with them to ensure "robust systems are in place".

She also says there is an industry-wide challenge regarding how many levels along the supply chain the audits extend.

Labour MP Sonia Kumar returns to Shein and asks Yinan Zhu if she has conducted site visits.

Zhu confirms that she has and is then asked what products were present at those sites.

"A variety of clothing," Zhu replies.

Kumar moves on to discuss two cases of child labour reported in their supply chain. She asks Zhu how confident she is that their supply chain is "child labour free".

Zhu says, "Not only do we work with suppliers to prevent that," but they have also "tightened the policy", adding that it is now considered an "immediate termination violation".

Shein is also educating suppliers, she says, and their policy sets the minimum working age at 16, which she notes is "higher than the International Labour Organisation standards."

Byrne asks whether any Temu products are sold from Xinjiang.

Heary says Temu does not allow sellers from the Xinjiang region.