War on Want today called on the British government to take action to regulate corporate human rights abuses on the eve of a new United Nations report into business and human rights. Special representative Professor John Ruggie will today present the UN Human Rights Council with findings of his two-year inquiry into the regulation of corporate human rights abuses. His report will support the...view...that companies can indeed violate human rights as a result of their activities, but that there is currently a "permissive environment" which allows corporations to escape the consequences of such human rights violations "without adequate sanctioning or reparation". Professor Ruggie will also criticise governments for their failure to control human rights abuses by corporations...John Hilary, Director of Campaigns and Policy at War on Want, said: "Professor Ruggie’s report is a wake-up call to the government on the need to hold British companies to account for their actions overseas..." [refers to Asda (part of Wal-Mart), Primark (part of Associated British Foods), Tesco]