Conference: Labour's Approach to Human Rights, China, and Ethical Investment
Hong Kong Watch alongside the Labour Campaign for Human Rights hosted an event on 28 September 2021 at Labour Party Conference 2021 in Brighton focusing on Labour’s approach to human rights, China, and ethical investment.
Event outline:
Parliament says there is a genocide taking place in Xinjiang, but investment by Britain's financial institutions into China is skyrocketing. Is this sustainable? There is a growing consensus that investment firms have a responsibility to consider environmental, social and governance factors when making investment decisions. But while concerted action is taking place to curb investment into oil firms and polluters, there is minimal regulation to stop us funding firms complicit in modern slavery or genocide.
From China to Myanmar, this is a serious blind spot. This panel will look at what responsibilities international firms should have to stop the funding of rights violations, and how the Labour party should approach this issue and pressure a change in government policy.
Chair: Sam Goodman, Hong Kong Watch’s Senior Policy Advisor
Sam Goodman is Hong Kong Watch’s Senior Policy Advisor and a former political advisor to the Labour Party. Sam has a background in foreign policy as the co-founder and co-chair of the New Diplomacy Project, a Labour focused foreign policy think-tank, and is the author of 'The Imperial Premiership: the role of the modern prime minister in foreign policymaking 1964-2015'.
Speakers
Sarah Owen MP
Sarah Owen is the Member of Parliament for Luton North (since 2019), the Chair of East and South East Asians for Labour, and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hate Crime where she has spoken out against the rise in hate crime faced by ESEA people during the pandemic. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Sarah was a trade unionist working for GMB. Sarah is also an opposition whip and a member of the Health and Social Care Committee.
Siobhain McDonagh MP
Siobhain McDonagh is the Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden (since 1997), a member of the Treasury Select Committee and the Panel of Chairs, and previously served as an assistant whip and parliamentary private secretary in the last Labour Government. Siobhain has previously served on the Education Committee, Health and Social Care Committee, and the Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee. Siobhain is also a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and Chair and Executive Director of the Labour Campaign for Human Rights. He specialises in personal injury, clinical negligence, actions against the police, and inquests. Through LCHR, he has developed particular policy expertise in Business and Human Rights and Modern Slavery, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the World Uyghur Congress (UK) and the Stop Uyghur Genocide Campaign.
Bilal Mahmood
Bilal Mahmood is Vice Chair of Labour in the City, a social group for Labour members and supporters who work in financial and related professional services in the UK. LITC’s focus is to be a resource for the Labour party and Labour front benchers and grow and organise support for Labour in our sector.
Bilal was Senior Legal Counsel for a Chinese Investment Bank. Prior to this role, he was a banking and finance associate at Allen & Overy LLP. He was also a Director of the East London Credit Union, a co-operative providing fair financial services to the local community.
In 2015 and 2017 Bilal stood as the Parliamentary Candidate against Iain Duncan Smith achieving a 16% swing, turning the London Tory stronghold into a key marginal for Labour.