"UK retailers defend selling cheap clothes in sustainability enquiry", 29 November 2018

... [H&M and Primark] along with most of the UK high street chains including Topshop, Asos and Boohoo, defended their models of selling cheap fashion in parliament this week when questioned as part of the Environmental Audit Committee’s ongoing inquiry into sustainability of the fashion industry.

The enquiry was chaired by Mary Creagh MP who asked outright how Primark could justify selling its T-shirts for as little as two pounds... Primark, said: “Primark has never done any significant advertising at all, and that can save us in any year 100m to 150m pounds... That keeps our pricing low. It’s our business model that takes us to a 2 pound T-shirt.”

...Retailers were also asked about their supply chains and factory workers, and how they comply with safety and fair wages. Mike Barry, director of sustainable business at Marks and Spencer stated their is a known risk when producing in countries where the minimum working age is 15. "The more you have people on the ground, the more you hear, the more you can respond to that."

...The Chair also asked the UK’s leading online retailers to give evidence... about illegally low wages for garment workers and disposability of some fast fashion garments. Furthermore companies were asked to respond to concerns about the excessive waste, plastic pollution and carbon footprint being generated by the fast fashion business model...