Primark accused of sexualising kids

Over the past few months we've witnessed several celebrities parading their children on their arms like newly bought Birkin bags.

The £4 bikini sets came in candy pink with gold stars and black with white polka dots. Primark has largely been accused of acting irresponsibly and encouraging the sexualisation of young girls by selling the padded bikinis.

Suri Cruise, daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, is a three-year-old who likes wearing high heels, apparently. Katie Price recently tweeted a picture of her daughter, Princess Tiaamii, caked in mummy's make-up. It's all part and parcel it seems, of being the spawn of celebrity whilst most non-celebrity kids are quite rightly preoccupied with toys and games.

Clothing chain Primark, recently attempted to bring this mini-me behaviour to the high street by the way of padded bikini tops for seven-year-old girls. Unsurprisingly, the sale came up against much protest from children's charities, parents and politicians from all parties, who deemed it 'too much, too young'. Primark have since removed the offending garments from all stores and issued an apology today.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown commented: "There's something wrong when companies are pushing our kids into acting like little grown-ups when they should be enjoying being children."

The Liberal Democrat's spokeswoman for equality, Lynne Featherstone, also welcomed Primark's decision to withdraw the items, adding: "How on earth could they have thought that this was a good idea in the first place?"

Conservative leader David Cameron also said it was "disgraceful" but later added he too was delighted by the withdrawal.

The £4 bikini sets came in candy pink with gold stars and black with white polka dots. Primark has largely been accused of acting irresponsibly and encouraging the sexualisation of young girls by selling the padded bikinis.

Penny Nicholls, director of children and young people at The Children's Society, said: "We know from our research that commercial pressures towards premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising are damaging children's well-being.”

Promoting their children's fashion, Primark's website states: 'Every girl wants to look her best and at Primark we make no exception for the younger ladies. All the high fashion trends can be found in our Girlswear section, no matter what age you are.'

Their latest padded range however, has proved to be a 'trend' too far.

A Primark spokesperson said: "The company has stopped the sale of this product line with immediate effect. Primark will donate all the profits made from this product line to a children's charity, and apologises to customers for any offence caused."