Britain | Bagehot

It is far too easy to run lawbreaking businesses in Britain

The Tories are obsessed by small boats. They should stop the dodgy car washes and sweet shops instead

Always judge a man by his shoes. What works as a rule of thumb for fashionistas also works for people rooting out dodgy employers in Britain. The best way to check whether a car wash is legitimate is to look at the workers’ feet, says Mary Creagh, the chair of Ethical Trading Initiative, which looks at labour abuses. A legal operation will have workers in proper boots, as they scrub vehicles by hand. A dodgy one will see poor souls scrubbing cars in soaking trainers. If a business is skimping on wellies, it is probably breaking other rules—whether paying below the minimum wage or hiring people who do not have the right to work in Britain.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “In plain sight”

From the March 18th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

This illustration depicts Keith Starmer and Rachel Reeves set against a background of UK, US, and Chinese flag elements.

The slow death of a Labour buzzword

And what that says about Britain’s place in the world

Adele performs on stage.

Adele is taking a break from music. Can anybody replace her?

Probably not


Women's Rights supporters protest outside the 'What Is A Woman' trial at the Supreme Court.

Britain’s Supreme Court considers what a woman is

At last. Britons had been wondering what those 34m people who are not men might be


Can potholes fuel populism?

A new paper looks at one explanation for the rise of Reform UK

Are British voters as clueless as Labour’s intelligentsia thinks? 

How the idea of false consciousness conquered the governing party