ABSTRACT
On Tuesday 25 July 1989, Scottish Member of Parliament Jimmy Dunnachie introduced a bill in the House of Commons aiming to ban the import of goods to Britain which are made by children. That it drew on the content of the Child Slaves film shown on British television just a month before was a hopeful sign that some useful action might result from this project. This was well over a year's work, commissioned by the BBC, to produce a major documentary film on the subject of child labour and exploitation around the world. It had been the subject of discussion with the Anti-Slavery Society and other agencies for over two years before it went into production. It was motivated by a desire to do something useful about a serious global issue, but it is always hard to evaluate the worth of so much investment of time, concern and money in the making of one film. Political action is a more tangible result than most. Jimmy Dunnachie's bill is not going to become law, and it would be a difficult law to enforce, but the issue needs to be raised and is not one which allows of easy compromise.
