LABOUR has vowed to end “rip off” subscription “traps” if they win the next election.
Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers Seema Malhotra told GB News: “Consumers are right to feel ripped off right now, and we have got a government under which we have seen a weakening of consumer protections.
“If you take as one example, the cuts to trading standards teams, you’ve seen a cut of over 50%. Therefore, we’ve got unsafe products in our communities. But also, the issues come wider than that, because when you go online, as a lot of people do with their shopping online, there are major issues with things like fake reviews where people are buying products that aren’t what they are expected to be. They don’t have that consumer experience.
“The Government’s been far too slow at bringing fake reviews into the new bill that’s coming into parliament now, that I’m working on, the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Bill. It also has to tackle that issue because consumers are paying a lot more than they should for goods because of these fake reviews.”
Commenting on rolling subscription traps where consumers have to “opt out” rather than “in”, she continued: “Which? and Citizens Advice estimates that this could be costing over £300 million a year in people buying products that they don’t want. And there’s got to be a tightening up of those rules.
“So you have to opt in rather than opting out, having to cancel. Things should be done with people’s permission, and with transparency.
“We need much more clarity over and uncertainty over how people are being charged and protection for consumers around that.
Speaking to Gloria De Piero, Ms Malhorta also opened up about the racist abuse she has endured in her life.
“I have experienced racism in my life,” she admitted. “And look, there are some experiences that I know young people in my constituency are still facing. It happens at bus stops. It happens sometimes in schools. In my case work I’m still seeing racism appearing, whether it’s in employment related issues or crime and hostility between neighbours. Racism is very clear and apparent in so many different ways in our society and we need a zero tolerance to it.”
THE FULL INTERVIEW IS BROADCAST THIS SUNDAY AT 6PM ON GLORIA MEETS
