Will you boycott Primark?

Discount clothes retailer Primark will be exposed in a 'Panorama' documentary this Monday for using suppliers in India, who were found to be subcontracting work to children.

The company, which became an overnight success on the back of adapting the latest catwalk trends into affordable high street fashion without marketing the brand, has announced it has already severed ties with three suppliers ahead of the programme airing.

But will you continue to shop at Primark or do you find its catwalk knock offs too good to resist no matter what the cost?

Let's be honest. Everyone already knows that Primark exploits its workers and uses child labour, we don't need 'Panorama' to tell us that. People that shop there will do it regardless, either because they're 'poor' or they just don't give a damn.

Not to cause offence...but I don't see all the people boycotting primark and/or getting upset about child labour hurrying over to these middle-east countries and offering the poor things a better opportunity. Yes it's clear exploitation but unlike the western culture there isnt the moral and ethical standards out there. If people boycott primark, the clothes dont sell, there is even less money for the labourers wages, and the children don't get paid for what they do do. I don't agree with child labour, but unfortunately these people probably don't have a choice, its unhealthy conditions and under paid hours or nothing....

I also cant afford to buy my ( to quote Darren ) " gladiator style sandals " from any where else.... 

 If people boycott Primark, maybe they should reconsider shopping at all their favourite shops.

How can we be sure that all other stores are ethical? The ones that charge more money?

Stories like this crop up from time to time, Nike has come under fire for exploiting workers, The Times revealed Topshop clothing was made by 'slave labour' this time last year. Has anyone considered how or who has picked the cotton in the first place to make their pants? In fact, the Arcadia group hasn't signed up to the ethical trading initiative, as say Marks & Spencer has...

My point? Instead of demonising one store we should all be aware that a lot of the things we buy could be at the detriment to human rights, regardless of the price tag.

I'm no expert on child exploitation, or slave labour, but I see you point Kate.

 Also, I suspect the garments for many other shops, are made in the exact same places, for the same cost. The reason we pay twice the price in other shops, is for a better shopping experience, more helpful staff, the label on the inside, and an awe inspiring ad campaign.

To think that some of you English are shocked to find that young people are working in garment factories is ludicrous.

Here's to all the older people who are working for three dollars a day. To think that a £2 T shirt could be made by £5.50 an hour paid people. You are shocked? You have never been on holiday to the third world where you know how cheap things are? Come off it! To say nothing of the material, the machining, the packing, the transport from thousands of miles away.

But hey- that's what the much more expensive "designers" are paying to get their clothes made in the third world- why else are they there- because they love the countries so much? They just mark up their clothes so much no one in their right minds would think that an £120 T shirt could be made for 80 cents, but it is.

You have obviously never been to the back streets of Hong Kong to the short term lease places selling factory over-runs, to the factory gates in Java, where Reeboks are £4. Or to the seedier streets of Blok M in Jakarta where Planet Hollywood denim shirts destined for Aspen, New York or Houston could be had for £3. ( And that's genuine- the fakes are £1.)

 The minimum mark up on clothes seems to be 600%, so the £3 T shirt is how much? Get a calculator boys and girls. (It's 60 cents).

If it costs the same to make a T shirt for Primark as it does for BHS, TopShop, M&S, then why is there such a discrepancy in retail cost? Who gets the money? The people on the shop floor? Don't think so.

Who is the dishonest person here? OK it's bad for children to be employed- they should be in school- but in their holidays- to help their desparately poor parents- what should they do? They are bringing in much needed funds for their lives, and the industry pays them a pittance - but that's the agreement. The fact that people in the rag trade in London then make millions out of it- is whose fault?

This is a difficult position, and every shop is guilty of it to some degree.

I don't think this will make many people stop shopping at Primark but will affect how good they feel about doing so in the next couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see how well they come out of the Panorama documentary. If their action has solved all the issues then people will forget pretty quickly.

 I may be a bad person but.... I shop in Primark, and I'm proud of it, and don't feel bad.

"This is a difficult position, and every shop is guilty of it to some degree."

So should this guilt be transferred on to the consumer?

 If this was the case we would be in a perpetual state of guilt and panic every time we picked up our wallets....

It's the manufacturers who shouldn't be able to sleep easy.
 

It would be interesting to see the sales figures for Primark stores in ethnically populated areas of the UK - to see if those from the same places as those who are being exploited seriously boycott Primark.

My guess is no - why? As mentioned by other posters, this isn't a new scandal, and the bad press won't make a lasting impression on consumer trends. Why again? well I think its a case of out of sight, out of mind.

If you aven't seen poverty in the first person, you can't appreciate the magnitude of the problem.

 Well... I will be sleeping easy in my bed tonight, under my Primark Duvet cover, having removed my Primark scatter cushions, whilst wearing my Primark pjamas!

It's not just Primark. Most of the big brands have their products made on the cheap in Asia.

We should probably thank Primark for not cranking up their margins as much.

 This seems like too little, this has been known about for ages and they have only done something about it now. What does that tell you? The sad truth is that you average primark customer doesn't care, which is why they have got away with it for so long. It has only been since the chatter around this C4 documentary 'The Devil Wears Primark' that all of this has come to a head. I am betting there are more shoddy working practices out there waiting to be exposed considering that these three suppliers represent next to nothing when it comes to Primark sales.

There's something in what Tikus says.

I just made a bit of a rambly point on the article page before Lisa told me there was a forum page, that I didn't get where Primark were coming from, ethically. Apparently they sacked the factories on ethical grounds, then announced that they'd be funding organisations to help young people in developing nations. Which seems to equate to leaving hundreds of families without incomes, then giving money to organisations who might not even help those families. Wouldn't the ethical thing be to work with those factories to find out why it was happening and then see what can be done to make the situation better? Then they win all round. And even turn it into a good PR story.

Channel 4 said they pulled it because it "wasn't quite ready", but how serious could they be about it when they had Alexa Chung lined up to present. Not very i'm guessing. Granted she's alright to look at, but that's not really the point or is?

 The BBC did its own version which is woth a look on iPlayer.'Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts (watch it here on i-Player).