Boohoo has been criticised by the chair of an influential committee of MPs, who said the online fashion firm had failed to address warnings of malpractice at Leicester factories. Philip Dunne, the chairman of the environmental audit committee, which questioned Boohoo co-founder Carol Kane about problems in Leicester factories in November 2018 for a report on the fast fashion industry, has disputed claims the group was not aware of potentially illegal working practices at factories making its garments. Boohoo said on 8 July that it was “shocked and appalled” by allegations that one of its suppliers was employing workers on less than the minimum wage and said it had launched an independent review of its supply chain. However, Dunne questioned how the company could be shocked by reports of malpractice in Leicester. “It is incredible that over a year since the committee highlighted illegal working practices in its supply chain, Boohoo has publicly denied any knowledge of what has been happening for years. “It is shameful that it took a pandemic and the ensuing outrage about working practices in their supply chain for Boohoo finally to be taken to task for turning a blind eye.” He added that Boohoo had not met a pledge to sign up to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a body which brings together retailers, trade unions and campaign groups to try and improve practice in supply chains. The ETI said Boohoo had not filed a formal application to join and had ceased directly communicating with it after the body asked the online retailer to enter talks with the Usdaw union over representation for workers at its Burnley warehouse. Peter McAllister, the executive director of the ETI, said that any discussions relating to Boohoo joining the group would have required “robust examination of company operations”. “We are not convinced that [Boohoo] would meet a number of critical aspects essential to ETI membership,” he added. Dunne also criticised Boohoo for not formally recognising or meeting with Usdaw. A spokesperson for Boohoo said: “We acknowledge that we received a letter from the EAC [on Wednesday] afternoon and we will of course be responding in due course.” Shares in the company slipped another 3% on Wednesday, making a 46% drop since the allegations of malpractice in its Leicester factories emerged last week. Rival online fashion retailer Asos revealed on Wednesday that it was considering action against a Leicester supplier after finding the factory to be in breach of its ethical trading standards during the coronavirus outbreak. Nick Beighton, Asos’s chief executive, said one factory had been tagged as “red critical” in the last few months under Asos’s ethical audit process – flagging the need for urgent action over potential risks to workers or gaps in management systems. Beighton said its unnamed Leicester factory had been visited by executives last week and he would be visiting again on Friday before “making a decision accordingly” about its future relationship with Asos.