East Renfrewshire MP Kirsten Oswald has backed a campaign to stop the sale of unsafe electrical products online.
The campaign is led by Electrical Safety First, part of the Electrical Safety Council, a registered charity that offers expert guidance to electrical professionals.
The campaign highlights that, in the UK, online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay are not bound to the same laws as traditional retailers.
This gap in the law allows the sale of online products with sub-standard or counterfeit parts, which present a serious risk of fire or electric shock.
The campaign aims to ensure that electrical goods offered for sale in the UK on these sites are confirmed as safe for use and that any electrical products reported as unsafe must be removed from the site within 24 hours. Ms Oswald has joined an all-party group of MPs in sending a letter to the UK Government asking it to extend the scope of the planned Online Harms Bill to include the sale of unsafe electrical goods online.
Ms Oswald said: "The growing popularity of online retailers has led to an increase in the number of fake electrical products sold to UK shoppers and it is time action was taken to stop this. "Many fake goods look the same as the genuine product on the outside, but can contain faulty components that can overheat and catch fire or deliver an electric shock.
"It is far too easy to set yourself up as a seller on these sites and there is not enough regulation in place to prevent the sale of dangerous electrical products."
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