The problem is of course is the consumer wants cheap meaning produced offshore, but they complain about imports. Westerner: "You pay me well. Give me goods cheap, but don't pay others less, but I want cheap". Walmart & the likes would NOT exist if the average westerner was not such a HYPOCRITE!

Jason Pearson, Toronto, Canada

16p an hour might be cheap here but in india its alot more than they could be getting, some people in rural india only get paid 40p per day. so someone working 10 hours a day in that factory could be getting paid 4x better than they would have been paid otherwise.
so before you condem tesco, think

will, grimsby, uk

I make sleepers in Canada with 100% Cotton French fabric which retail at $40 my neighbour makes them in China his retail $25. I pay 4 Euro/M & $18/hr. His fabric cost is about 1 Euro. White Collar middle class buy China The blue-collar workers buy Canadian. Look in the mirror before you attack tesco

Jason Pearson, Toronto, Canada

Well, IF people did not want/desire 'cheap' clothes, then factories in the UK midlands would not have closed down.
Hence, the retailers have gone around the world for the cheapest suppliers to improve their profit margins. What's this sudden awakening by these 'ethical' reporters?

Arvin, Lon, GB

Close the factories, send the workers home. There is no welfare or food bank for the hungry in India. Were people lining up at the gates for these jobs? All that Tesco could do was to ensure a prevailing wage and state working conditions. If you really care send money to those now out of work

Gordon Phillips, Huntington Beach, Cal, USA

What do you espect from tesco? They have a lot of previous of driving down supplier prices and taking more margin for themselves. Boycott them.

Nigel, Salisbury, UK

capitalism doesn't work and will never work
they get richer we get poorer

rui, crawley, uk

But where do we go to buy clothes that aren't made by people receiving such a low wage? I never buy from Primark or supermarkets because it doesn't take much to work out that somebody is being paid very little. However, where can we purchase clothes whilst still having a clear conscience?

Josephine, UK, UK

Chie in Tokyo - it has been compared with the cost of living; did you miss the bit that said "The Bangalore Garment and Textile Workers’ Union last year calculated a living wage as at least £52 a month"?

And Desmond in Houston - perhaps paying them MORE would be an ingenious alternative?

Simon, London,

will not buy clothes unless it is something I must have and then I will be looking for stuff that is made in Britain or else I will cut up what I have to make a new garment. I feel sorry for the people in these countries but I am not going to buy just to help them i.e fairtrade or eco friendly.

H Myrie, London, United Kingdom

We should make all shoppers aware of WHY these stores sell clothing as cheap as they do. If shoppers knew the real truth and they have a concience they would stop buying and therefore the stores would stop selling them.

Mel, Herts,

It is slavery by proxy, but hey the products are cheap!!

Tim, Toronto,

hourly wages can only be condemned when compared with the cost of living in India - it's a lot less than in the UK

Chie, Tokyo, Japan

selling cheap is motto of all the companies in this world, some would like premium on their brands but that is not case with companies like Walmart, ASDA, Tesco since their motto is never premium but sell cheap and good quality. so someone is hit somewhere.

hena, bournemouth, UK

problem is that countries like have huge population and less job opportunities for them , so government alms if one is unemployed which actually is impractical for such big countries.

there are no labour laws in place and so people are exploited and they continue thinking that something is better

hena, bournemouth, UK

Exactly what would these people do for an income? I ndia is supposedly one of the richest countries,the majority seem to live in absolute squalor.Perhaps a few complaints to the hierarchy in India would be the place to start.

Bryn Davies, St.Malo, France

What do you expect? There's a reason why the clothes are cheap - we're just such a consumer, money oriented society where everyone loves a bargain, so we don't even think about it the poor little dears who slave away so we can have stuff in our shops.

kat, hull, uk

Of course, the other, kinder thing to do is to let them starve to death.

Desmond Taylor, Houston, USA TX

I dont think they are getting bad salary, i am a fresh IT graduate and i got less than £5 a month. I have to work some days 24 hours with next day as half day sometimes. I envy them for £8.75 a week. I dont know why ppl are so critical about it. Purchasing power is is different there.

Tarj, London,

Tesco's selling live animals to be prodded and poked in their Chinese stores goes against all decent standards of animal welfare in civilised countries. Bending to such gross local customs is really going way beyond the limits. The Chinese and Tesco need hauling up for such cruel misbehaviour.

Colin, Carmarthen, United Kingdom

why is everyone surprised? look at the price, deduct vat and transport what's left? not much. tesco won't sell at cost so someone is getting paid very little.

Philip Barnes, preston, england

It is high time we started to take account of who is selling what in the high street.

Many companies that one would think are the epitomy of Englishness - Laura Ashley, M&S for example - are sourcing more and more stuff from China / Far East. Buy it cheap and sell it dear seems to be the motto.

Gerald Dyson, Cheshire,