Combat clothing worn by the SAS, snipers and frontline infantry troops is being made in China as part of a £70 million contract, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Uniforms worn by the Red Arrows and the RAF Memorial Flight were also produced in Chinese factories, according to details of contracts obtained by this newspaper.
Security experts have repeatedly warned that China poses a danger to the West. Former PM Liz Truss said that the UK was in a Cold War with China during a controversial visit to Taiwan last week. Campaigners have warned that the military clothing could have been produced in forced labour camps by China’s persecuted Uighur Muslims.
Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British troops, said: ‘This is an embarrassing and shameful blunder. Even if it costs more, the Armed Forces should not be wearing Chinese uniforms – they should be made in the UK using material from a country with a decent human rights record and not a country which is a strategic threat.’
Details of the contracts, revealed in a Freedom of Information request, show that thousands of items of military clothing have been made in China over the last three years.
They include sniper and paratrooper smocks, and Arctic camouflage worn by members of the special forces. Chinese firms also supply thermal clothing, underwear, helmet covers, sun hats, tropical camouflage clothing and shirts.
The companies named in the documents are Cooneen Defence Ltd, Tailored Image and Iturri S.A.
Cooneen Defence Ltd, whose contracts amount to about £60 million, says on its website that garments made in China for the Ministry of Defence ‘comply fully’ with ‘rigorous ethical standards’.
But the Clean Clothes Campaign, a pressure group that lobbies for workers’ rights around the world, said that up to 84 per cent of all Chinese cotton exports come from the Uighur region, where up to one million Muslim men and women are being forced to work in labour camps.
Colonel Philip Ingram, a former military intelligence officer, said: ‘The MoD should know where their kit is manufactured. The optics of British military uniforms being manufactured in a country considered hostile and a potential enemy, where its human rights record is at best woeful, raises questions again around how much care the MoD exhibits through its procurement process.
‘I am shocked it is thought acceptable that kit is made in China, but I am not surprised as time and again the MoD shows it doesn’t care.’
An MoD spokesman said: ‘As part of an international supply chain, around 16,000 different items of military clothing are sourced for our Armed Forces. Our contractor must abide by strict procurement regulations to ensure that any risks around modern slavery are identified and addressed during the tender process and the subsequent contract.’
Source: Daily Mail
