LEO MCKINSTRY: Our modern slavery laws are being abused to fuel misery

LEO MCKINSTRY: The good intentions behind our modern slavery laws are being abused to fuel misery and exploitation

The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. And today that well-worn phrase perfectly describes the loudly trumpeted mission by British politicians to combat the vile phenomenon of modern slavery, both here and abroad.

However laudable the goal in theory, its consequences have been hugely destructive in practice.

Indeed, it is now increasingly clear that this noisy focus on modern slavery in recent years, far from protecting the vulnerable, is instead helping to fuel misery and exploitation.

It has become a tool used by people-smuggling gangs to intensify their cruel trade in human cargo and a weapon wielded by unscrupulous lawyers to halt the deportations of illegal migrants.

Instead of strengthening our immigration system, it has become another catalyst of chaos, further undermining the authority of ministers and reinforcing the justifiable impression that our country is a soft touch when it comes to border control.

LEO MCKINSTRY: This noisy focus on modern slavery in recent years, far from protecting the vulnerable, is instead helping to fuel misery and exploitation. Pictured is an inflatable craft off the coast of Dover on August 4

Nowhere is this descent into anarchy more obvious than in the English Channel, where the gangs of traffickers operate with near impunity and British patrol vessels provide a quasi-ferry service.

This year, more than 44,000 illegal migrants have made the crossing, up more than 50 per cent on 2021. Most of these arrivals are young adult males and, on some days, during the summer more than 60 per cent were Albanian nationals, according to the then Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Given that their homeland is a democracy that is not at war, few if any of these Albanians have a just claim for asylum. But claiming to be a victim of ‘modern slavery’ can be the ideal route to obtaining leave to remain, even in the absence of serious evidence.

It is therefore no surprise to find that Albanians accounted for no less than 28 per cent of the 4,586 modern slavery claims lodged in the latest quarter of this year.

The biggest category of slavery claims comes from alleged victims of trafficking, though in reality few who arrive by small boats have been brought to Britain against their will.

Some say they have been used as forced labour in fruit farms or car washes; others that they were ordered by criminal gangs — under the threat of violence — to deal drugs, pickpocket, grow cannabis or beg on the streets.

The modern-slavery loophole that allows so many illegal migrants to live in the UK is part of the wider collapse in the integrity of our immigration service, which has buckled under the pressure of growing demand, political cowardice and bureaucratic incompetence.

In the face of all this upheaval, politicians remain impotent, their rhetoric as empty as their policies. Now the extent of this failure has prompted the former Downing Street aide Nick Timothy, along with fellow policy analyst Karl Williams, to produce a radical blueprint to rebuild the immigration system.

The extent of this failure has prompted the former Downing Street aide Nick Timothy (pictured), along with fellow policy analyst Karl Williams, to produce a radical blueprint to rebuild the immigration system

Launched this week by the Centre for Policy Studies, a Thatcherite think tank, their bold plan puts forward a number of solutions, including: a cap on numbers; an overhaul of human-rights legislation so that it would be impossible for applicants travelling from a safe country to claim asylum; and agreements with other countries in addition to Rwanda to accept asylum seekers for the processing of their claims.

But the most striking feature of their paper is their call for a comprehensive reform of the Modern Slavery Act of 2015, which they say is being ‘unscrupulously abused’.

They add: ‘While this has been happening on a small scale for years, it has now become standard advice to illegal immigrants from Albania to claim to be victims of trafficking.’

In response, they want to see tighter criteria and the requirement to produce stronger evidence when making a Modern Slavery claim.

Their analysis is correct, though Nick Timothy is a rather incongruous critic of the Act, given that he was a key adviser to Theresa May in 2015, when, in her role as Home Secretary, she pushed through the legislation.

At the time, May saw this as one of the proudest achievements of her career. Basking in the moral righteousness of her crusade as a modern William Wilberforce, she built a cross-party consensus at Westminster and won plaudits across the political spectrum.

When she became prime minister a year later, she promised to redouble her efforts to obliterate modern slavery. ‘Just as it was Britain that took on a historic stand to ban slavery two centuries ago,’ she intoned, ‘so Britain will once again lead the way in defeating modern slavery and preserving the freedoms and values that have defined our country for generations.’

But the promise of those noble words remains unfulfilled. In fact, according to the police, experts and campaigners like the office of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, the problem of slavery is growing in scale in modern Britain.

Persuaded

In the last quarter alone, claims have risen by 10 per cent, while the UK is heading for 16,000 cases this year, compared to an estimated 3,805 cases reported in 2016.

Apart from greater awareness, there are two other explanations for this rise. One is that Britain’s open-door approach to immigration has encouraged the import of practices such as forced marriages, domestic servitude, compulsory labour, child exploitation and trafficking — all of which are embraced under the definition of modern slavery.

The other is that the Act itself provides perverse incentives to abuse the system by making false claims.

The former immigration minister Chris Philp wrote eloquently in August that ‘immigration lawyers know they don’t need to provide any real proof — just offer a vaguely plausible-sounding story that is roughly consistent with modern slavery patterns and it will get accepted’.

Chillingly, he recalled that he had seen ‘case after case where serious foreign criminals — including sadistic rapists and brutal murderers — used last-minute modern slavery claims to prevent deportation back to their home country.’

In a charge that Nick Timothy echoed this week, Mr Philp argued that ‘successive governments have been persuaded by self-appointed campaigners to lower the threshold of proof to accept a modern slavery claim to an absurdly low level.’

That explains why Britain, with its far looser interpretation of modern slavery, has ten times the annual number of claims as France or Germany.

Nick Timothy may have played a role in Theresa May’s (pictured on November 23) previous error but, by issuing a rallying cry for reform this week, he has shown he has seen the light

Shambolic

The irony is that there was never a genuine, urgent need for the 2015 Act, given that activities like human trafficking, forced marriages and the use of child labour were already serious crimes. But the political class wanted to parade its compassionate credentials.

In this atmosphere of self-congratulation, there was not enough political scrutiny of the proposed law. As a result, the definition of modern slavery was far too broad and vague.

In one analysis by the Office for National Statistics, such slavery can be defined as a ‘serious crime in which victims are exploited for someone else’s gain’, a wording that is almost meaningless.

It is that lack of clarity which has provided such wide scope for false claims.

Progressives love to attack any steps that strengthen border controls. But the truth about Britain’s shambolic immigration system is that it is the opposite of compassionate or just, since it allows the bullies, criminals and charlatans to flourish. The misguided, self-indulgent modern slavery approach has been a key part of that meltdown.

The law could not be more ripe for change. Nick Timothy may have played a role in Theresa May’s previous error but, by issuing a rallying cry for reform this week, he has shown he has seen the light.

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