In recent years, officials from the UK Home Office have repeatedly accused the Modern Slavery Act (MSA) of being too lenient. The former home secretary Priti Patel was a particularly vocal critic. Before resigning in September, Patel was working on measures that would, she said, clamp down on people allegedly filing illegitimate trafficking and modern slavery claims. The new home secretary, Suella Braverman, intends to carry on with this plan.
Speaking to the Sun on Saturday, Braverman indicated she intends to reform the act, to “crack down” on criminals allegedly abusing the system by pretending to be victims of trafficking: “We want to deport them because they are considered to be foreign national offenders. What do they do? They claim modern slavery.”
Criticism of the MSA is something of a departure from previous Conservative celebration of the act. First passed into UK law in 2015, it was the jewel in the crown of then home secretary and later prime minister Theresa May. It has now become a target.
