When the Modern Slavery Act passed into law, the day that Westminster prorogued for the 2015 general election, parliamentarians from both chambers and all parties, demonstrated what can be achieved when collaboration and consensus is sought.
The Modern Slavery Act was a world-leading piece of legislation, one which has provided inspiration across the globe for other similar laws. We should rightfully be proud of this Act; of the measures it introduced and the ambitious path it set the UK on. Modern Slavery has been described by Theresa May as ‘the great human rights issue of our time’. This Act set out to make a serious impact on challenging traffickers and supporting survivors.
While the Act may have been world-leading, it was not perfect. People may point to Overseas Domestic Worker visas, or the use of goods created by forced labour in our supply chains. As has been shown over the past decade there are issues with the Act, like all good legislation it should evolve to address needs as they become apparent. Rather than the finishing line, the passing of the Modern Slavery Act was another hurdle overcome, we have someway to go before our race is run.
On Thursday 27th March, I sponsored a backbench business debate to mark the anniversary of the Act, it was almost ten years to the day that it became law. We permitted ourselves a moment to consider the impact of this legislation that has been, in many cases, life changing. What encouraged me most however, was the clear focus on the future, on the work yet to be done, and there is work that we all must do.
I am still sometimes asked ‘what is modern slavery?’, it is a financial crime; it is invariably for financial gain. It is the exploitation of one human being by another human being for financial gain. It is a coercive crime, and it is happening globally. It is estimated that there are 50 million people globally living in modern slavery, with over 122,000 here in the UK. Despite these numbers, I still worryingly hear ‘it doesn’t happen here’. It does. It can happen anywhere, in towns and villages, in cities and in the countryside, no community is immune to exploitation.
The reality is that modern slavery can be found everywhere. It can be found affecting children, who are exploited in numerous ways. Falling through the gaps of services, children are found and preyed upon by traffickers. We now see the reality of county lines exploitation, the young forced to sell drugs for criminal gangs. Around 31% of all referrals to government support in 2024 were for those under the age of 18. But it isn’t just criminal exploitation, indeed just two years ago, Sir Mo Farah disclosed that he is a survivor of domestic servitude, forced as a boy to work for those who claimed they would care for him. The Modern Slavery Act started a pilot of Independent Child Trafficking Guardians, a system of support I’m delighted to see this new government commit to extend fully across the country.
It can be found in our care homes, the shortage of staff in our social care system has proved to be another opportunity for traffickers to exploit and find profit. Workers are asked to pay tens of thousands of pounds for an opportunity to work in these essential roles, only to find they have been misled, with wages held and the threat of joblessness. The number of reported cases in the care sector has risen continuously since 2022.
It can be found in our pockets, on our roofs, and the very fabric of the clothes we wear. The Modern Slavery Act put an obligation of companies that provide goods or services in the UK, with an annual income over £36 million pounds to produce a modern slavery statement, which sets out whether there is modern slavery within their supply chains and what acts have been taken to ensure they are removed if ever found. Time has come for this provision to be tightened, the US has the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act 2021 and its hot goods provisions, whereby items cannot even enter the US market unless the importer can prove that there was no slavery in the supply chain. This government cannot allow our transition to green energy, or the building of new towns and homes, to be facilitated by forced labour here in the UK, or where our goods are extracted and made in other countries.
These are but few of the many issues that face us. It is as clear now as it was ten years ago that action must be taken. The passing of the Act ten years ago has set a precedent that we must build upon. When closing the debate, safeguarding minster Jess Phillips, who has demonstrated incredible determination to address this issue, stated that in relation to new modern slavery legislation, “nothing is currently off the table for members who want to work with the government on that.”
We must come together around this table, ensuring there is room for survivors, civil society and statutory bodies. Guided by our reflections on hard learned lessons from the past decade, the time is right to build upon the Modern Slavery Act.
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Source: Politics
