Double standards

** Important Update**

Since writing this post at around 2pm, the Houses Of Parliament shop website has been updated to list the material being used and, sadly, I was right, it's 100 % acrylic.
It's a shame the environmental damage this item will wreak can't be as easily undone...
That also means the listing was illegal for more than a month.

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The Houses of Parliament Shop is promoting its Big Ben Christmas Jumper — but the product page doesn’t list the fabric composition anywhere.

That’s not just sloppy. It’s a breach of UK textile labelling law, which requires fibre percentages to be stated before purchase.

So I did some digging to find out what it’s actually made from.
And the answer?

👉 100% acrylic.

Acrylic is one of the worst materials for the environment:

* It sheds massive amounts of microplastics every time you wash it
* It’s made from toxic petrochemicals
* It’s non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, and highly energy-intensive to produce
* It can shed 5–10x more microfibres than polyester

So let’s get this straight: the UK’s law-making institution is selling a jumper in breach of its own textile regulations and it’s made from one of the most polluting fibres in the clothing industry.

How can Parliament be this tone-deaf?