Protections for people arriving irregularly to the UK are being deliberately dismantled. The 2022 Nationality and Borders Act raised evidence thresholds to make it harder for foreign victims of exploitation to access support. The government is appealing to the Supreme Court for permission to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. And the Illegal Migration Bill, which just passed the Lords, will soon put in place some of the most “draconian” anti-migrant provisions the UK has ever seen.
Part of this effort has been a sustained campaign to undermine the 2015 Modern Slavery Act. Since Theresa May was voted out as prime minister in 2019, the government has increasingly described the MSA as a loophole and the people it tries to support as “criminals”. Its proposed solution is the Illegal Migration Bill. Once it becomes law, this legislation will prevent anybody arriving irregularly to the UK from receiving support – including victims of torture and modern slavery.
It was not that long ago that the government was singing a very different tune. This same Conservative party, with May as home secretary, spearheaded the creation of the MSA eight years ago. The act was considered by the government of the time as a crowning achievement, one that offered the vulnerable “world-leading protections”.
