Bas Javid: ‘If you use cash-only barbers, it could fuel slavery’

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/bas-javid-if-you-use-cash-only-barbers-it-could-fuel-slavery-0xn05xfcz

by ParkedUpWithCoffee

41 comments

  1. As silly as that is, what you are certainly doing is fueling tax evasion, which means higher taxes for everyone else.

    I’m all for lowering taxes, but evading isn’t the way.

  2. > If you use cash-only barbers, it could fuel slavery

    My barber is an old man that has been doing it for 40+ years in the same village, only takes cash. Devastated to learn he has slaves.

  3. If you buy from any company, it could fuel slavery. I mean seriously, look at the supply chain for any electronic device (all the way down to the raw materiels being mined), and the conditions of all people involved in it.

    But I guess those are slaves in other countries, so who cares about them.

  4. Okay, so let’s talk about why my tiny little village suddenly has several ‘Turkish’ barbers, all cash only. How’s about the government stops palming responsibility of such enforcement to citizens. Cash is a legal, legitimate way to do business and its entirely reasonable for the public to operate on the presumption that brick and mortar businesses, operating in the open, with planning permission, business rates etc are broadly legit.

    If they’re not, sort it out.

  5. This is a big part of why I’m so against the argument that we should in some way tolerate illegal immigration, its essential a pro-slavery position. Why some on the left (especially in the US) seem ok with putting people in a situation that makes them prime targets for slavery honestly has baffled me for years.

  6. Always laugh seeing businesses that do the “cash is king” shit. Just be honest and say you want to avoid paying taxes.

  7. I’m not having a bald guy lecture me on haircuts thanks. Next

    /s

  8. Paywalled, didn’t read – but it is surreal that the Director General of Immigration Enforcement nonetheless is indirectly placing the onus on the public to not support slavery that is happening in broad daylight and that authorities themselves (so himself) are tolerating. I know that things are way more complex than I could condense in a short Reddit paragraph, but this remains baffling

  9. It’s not just them. Fast food shops and international ones too. I’d argue most of them are employing migrants on student/work visa’s. They’re doing it off the book, and the employees use it to get around legal working hours limits. In my experience it’s extremely common among migrants now.  

    I literally just made a new friend (on student visa) today at my part time who admitted he works 14 hours a day 😭 (3 hours at the part time, 11 at a chip shop)

  10. And nail bars!!! But surely it’s the gov and police’s job to sort that out?

    Eta – I genuinely worry for the staff of nail bars. You never see them in the local area, payments are always cash, they rarely speak English… it’s quite clearly trafficking and yet nobody bats an eyelid? I don’t visit them personally, though my mum has been once to one near us not realising how it was, and she was mortified. I know police are stretched thin but some of these things are right there in plain sight and people don’t even think about it? Let along the gov acting on it…

  11. Considering I go to a cash only barber who delivers a good service, I’ll leave it up to the big boys and girls at HMRC (that I pay for through my PAYE taxes) to do the heavy lifting and their fucking job.

  12. Maybe the state could employ people to track down, stop and punish slavers instead of trying to gaslight regular consumers.

  13. Yes I’m sure this has to do with tax and not that the overlords at Visa & Mastercard demanding their £bn cut of everything.

  14. Cash existed for a long time before cards and we managed to tax people back then.

  15. I used to go to a barber for years that only took cash. He’d been in business over 40 years, just closed the shop and sold up during covid to retire. His missus gave him a hard time about sweeping up but I don’t think he was actually a slave.

  16. People posting in agreement whilst using technology that largely relies on slavery to be produced, wearing clothes from sweatshops, and eating food likely picked/processed by people living in abject poverty. 

    This feels like the government not taking on any responsibility when they should be implementing laws that stop this, but they won’t because regardless of who is in power such laws would impact their donors. 

  17. The last time there was a discussion on this topic the moral police were claiming it was racism to highlight the sheer volume of cash only barbers in small towns, the majority of which are never busy and cannot cover costs on what they charge. It’s very obviously a money laundering operation and only a virtue signalling fool would claim otherwise.

  18. I tend to avoid them purely because it’s a pain in the arse.

  19. Can we have a deep dive into the finances of Bas Javid?

  20. My local ‘Turkish’ barber openly brags about how they can get around tax, still claim benefits and get grants to help their business also. Him and the other ‘Turkish’ men (who don’t even cut hair they just sit about the place) have a jolly good laugh! He’s from Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan something like that

  22. My local barbers has changed ownership 3 times in the last 2 years, having immigrated to open the business, whilst faining knowledge of the previous owners. All having very similar reasons for why they moved to my small town. The haircuts have got worse. They will only stamp a loyalty card if you pay in cash

  23. It’s an admission of a failure of enforcement. This is the problem with balkanised and non-specialised police. It’s like trying to do DIY with only a bunch of regular screwdrivers that can only be used in one room. Some jobs you can muddle through but others you’re completely stuffed.

  24. Its weird that we all know this goes on, the authorities know this goes on but nothing is done about it

  25. So what he’s saying is that once again the British Isles are plagued by Barbery Slavers….? (I’ll get go get my coat)

  26. Reminds me of a car wash app from a few years back. It would ask you questions from seemingly innocuous “Did the worker wear gloves?”, to extreme “Was there visible sleeping arrangements”. The idea being to help identify hand car washes that were using slave labour or keeping people via holding passport/wages.

    Similar to this, a lot of cash-only businesses aren’t involved in organised crime or pocketing potential tax, but it’s undeniable it’s out there, even in larger businesses (BooHoo’s suppliers). A friend did a dissertation on modern slavery in Britain, it was shocking the numbers they were coming across.

    It shouldn’t be on the consumer to fix these issues, but it doesn’t hurt to have a wary eye when visiting businesses, cash-only is just one of those innocuous things that could point to more going on.

  27. How about the government do the government thing they are elected to do….

  28. Don’t know why everyone is outraged, but he’s right. Cash only barbers, cleaners, ground workers and fruit and veg pickers are the most common areas for modern slavery. I haven’t been able to read the article but he’s allowed to point out the risk, as you may want to know it. It also is a good way to discourage people from use barbers that are evading tax

  29. My barbers is cash only because they’re trying to keep their prices competitive, and credit cards would mean they have to up their prices to compensate for the credit card fees and installing these systems. I imagine this is the same for many small businesses

  30. Barbers

    Uber eats

    Just eat

    Plumbers

    Builders

    Car washes

    Random corner stores that are cash only

    Mechanics

    All of these I’ve seen with some element of cash only and frequent rotation of staff its they job to fix it not ours

  31. But how will my drug dealer be able to launder his money and stay out of prison?

  33. We know, most sensible people have been saying this for several years only to be shouted down as racists.

    It’s taken the Westminster bubble all this time to notice as they barely ever bother to leave London and actually visit some of the towns affected.

  34. How about the govt starts doing its job of enforcing the rules rather than telling people not to use a legitimate form of legal tender.

    I go to the nearest barber to my house. Turns out it’s a cash only Turkish barber. Seems like a nice chap, gives a good hair cut.

    If that’s a front for something nefarious, I’m not a detective nor is it my responsibility to find out.

    Maybe they should stop gutting the police force, increase funding like they do with the NHS and see some good come off it

  35. My barber has been operating in my town for 20+ years, she is self employed and nearly 60. She is cash only, like everyone else was years ago. Cash is cash, we’ve been using it for hundreds of years.

    Just last month there was a case where slave workers were employed by McDonalds because they’d failed to do correct checks.

    The proliferation of modern slavery isn’t down to using cash, it’s down to the failure of government and police to work together. As for the rash of “Turkish Barbers” on high streets, local authorities need to be looking at planning rules (different class for barbers than shops) to curtail them, and HMRC need to ensure these places are paying their taxes correctly.

    Just yesterday I walked by a Turkish Barbers. One customer in, 3pm football streaming on the 60” tv in full view of the police walking on the other side of the road. Two new Range Rovers parked outside. Doesn’t add up to me.

  36. I’m pretty sure most cash only businesses are indeed dodging tax but this is a bit of a stretch

  37. So does allowing millions of illegals into our country.

  38. I don’t know a single barbers near me that isn’t cash only. Do I just not get a hair cut?

  39. You do have to wonder why there are multiple fully staffed Turkish barbers in every town, when regular barbers are staffed by the owner only, and maybe one extra person rents a chair on a Saturday when it’s busy.

  41. As a bald, beardless bloke, I for one am glad I need not give my hard earned cash to local businesses, reserving my capitalist tendencies for multi-national retail organisations that destroy local resources, contributing my small part to the next penis-shaped rocket or election influence.

    I’m doing my part.

    Mostly because all the cash machines and local banks closed in a 10 mile radius…

Comments are closed.