Labour's shadow agriculture minister Huw Irranca Davies welcomed the government's rejection of Mr Beecroft's recommendation to scrap the Gangmaster Licensing Authority.

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For others, the culprit in Morecambe was another sinister-sounding villain, the gangmaster.

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If a licensed gangmaster is found to have not complied with the standards required by the GLA, the authority can revoke their licence but it cannot prosecute them - that is currently a matter for the police.

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