I start by declaring my interests in the register and my work in the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham and as an unpaid trustee of the Human Trafficking Foundation. It is a privilege to follow what was a historic event. I think we all watched President Zelensky in one place or another and will wish him well in combating the illegal invasion of Ukraine.
If noble Lords will allow me, I will also take one minute to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, on her elevation to the Privy Council. This is the first chance I have had to do so with the noble Baroness present. I think there is universal acclaim for that. Everybody across the House is pleased to see somebody who is decent and honest and has integrity—even if we sometimes clash on views and opinions—receive that honour.
Now back to normal. In speaking to Amendments 65 and 66 and agreeing with all the various amendments in this really important group on modern slavery, I will repeat a couple of general points and then move to something that has come to light since the debate in Committee. I know it is a great disappointment to everyone that this modern slavery part of the Bill is in an immigration Bill. That sets a really unhelpful context and inevitably conflates immigration and slavery in a way that even probably the Government, and certainly the Front Bench here, would not want to. That is to be regretted.
It is very helpful that the Government have produced a set of statistics that are relevant to the whole debate on this group. Sometimes the Government say they do not agree with figures that are used, but these are the Government’s own figures, produced by the Home Office on 3 March—a few days ago. The document is titled Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify Statistics UK, End of Year Summary, 2021 and is really helpful to our debate.
I do not want to make a Second Reading or Committee speech, but these statistics have been introduced between our last debate and this Report stage, and they are of particular relevance. I do not understand one of the things the Government have done when there is a flagship Conservative government achievement—something of which we are all proud. I am a Labour politician, and I think the Modern Slavery Act that the Government passed was marvellous, so I do not understand why they are proceeding with Part 5, which undermines many of the principles on which the Act was established.
These statistics are so relevant to my Amendments 65 and 66, and indeed Amendment 69, which would leave out Clause 62, which other noble Lords have signed. They drive a coach and horses through the Government’s reason for doing this. The Government are persuaded to pursue the measures in these clauses because they say that people being referred to the national referral mechanism are using it as a way of circumventing immigration law and as a backdoor way of getting into the UK and overcoming different regulations.
I point out for the Government—the Minister will no doubt want to point this out—that referrals to the national referral mechanism have increased by 20% in the last year. There has been a 20% rise in referrals—let us get that out there. If I were the Government—and you never know—I would, instead of saying that it is a problem, say that it is a sign of the Government’s success in identifying more victims of modern slavery, bringing them forward to the system and offering them support. I would defend it and say, “Isn’t it great that we are uncovering more examples of this?” Of course, if people are circumventing the system, you would expect the system to pick it up and deal with them in the appropriate way. But the Government have chosen, through Clauses 57, 58, 62 and other clauses that other noble Lords will speak to, to drive a coach and horses through that. Anyway, let us bear in mind that that is one of the statistics.
One of the big arguments against Clauses 57, 58 and 62 is that they fail to recognise the fear and intimidation that victims of modern slavery—even the
ones that the state finds—feel. How do I know that? I will use the Government’s own figures to prove the point. In the same figures from which I quoted what the Government will quote about the increase in referrals, let us also look at the fact that duty to notify—that is, the process by which adults do not consent to be referred to the mechanism but the first responders have a duty to tell the national referral mechanism that they have people and suspect slavery—has gone up by 47%. In other words, there is already a huge increase in the numbers before the implementation of Part 5 of the Bill. Before the implementation of Clauses 57, 58 and 62, we are already seeing a huge rise in the number of people who are too frightened and will not consent to being referred to the national referral mechanism.
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That is the figure the Government should be worried and concerned about, and I am sure they are. I am not saying that people do not care about it—of course they do—but I absolutely fail to understand why anybody who cares about that, as the Government do, would then proceed to introduce a law that will make it worse. The problem is not the increase in referrals of people who consent, or the circumvention of the system, but the failure of the system to generate confidence in people who may be the victims of slavery to come forward and seek the support and help they need. How do I know that? Because the Government’s own figures, published last Friday, tell us that. It is not made up.
I will tell your Lordships what is going on in the Home Office. A debate will be going on between the immigration part of it and the modern slavery part. There will be a debate between Ministers, and they will be saying, “Noble Lords are going to raise this—or they may not notice it”. Well, it is right on the Home Office website; it is the first thing there. If noble Lords have not seen them, it is worth looking at those statistics and seeing for themselves what they say. They drive a coach and horses through the Government’s point of view. That is why there are all these amendments leaving out various clauses.
Amendments 65 and 66, in my name and those of the noble Baronesses, Lady Hamwee and Lady Meacher, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bristol, would remove Clauses 57 and 58. It is unclear to me what problems the Government are trying to fix with these changes. What is gained by these clauses? The cost of them is stark, as I have tried to lay out.
Clause 58 provides that decision-makers “must take account” of a missed deadline, which damages a victim’s “credibility” unless there are “good reasons” not to. We had a huge debate about what “good reasons” means. Why is the NRM suddenly not to be trusted to make decisions and to give weight to what matters? Who are the NRM decision-makers? Do we not trust them to make these decisions and realise when there is a difficulty? I would have thought we do. Through all our discussions, there has been no guarantee at all from the Government on what would count as a good reason. In the provisions there is no recognition of the trauma, the exploitation and the fear of authorities. In those figures I quoted, your Lordships can see the fear,
the exploitation and the concern of victims—they will not come forward, because they are frightened of the consequences.
Clause 62 is a key part of the Bill and the part the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner told us would make it harder to prosecute human traffickers. There is hardly a sentence in the Bill about the prosecution of human traffickers—something we all wish to see. The Government turn around and say that it does not matter, because these are only serious offences. The Government cite terrorism ad nauseam and list it—I know the Government do not like lists, but they have lists when it suits them. Then they point to Schedule 4 to the Modern Slavery Act in the belief that we will not read Schedule 4 to the Modern Slavery Act, because that also refers to offences that can be designated as public order offences. If you read Schedule 4 to the Modern Slavery Act, which of course is not listed because it does not suit the Government’s argument, you find out that included within that are minor crimes such as robbery or damage to property. Those are included with the sort of thing that can be taken into account as an affront to public order.
The Government’s answer, of course, is that no sensible person would do that, or that it will be judged on a case-by-case basis. I say that we are passing primary legislation, and in primary legislation doing the right thing should not be left to chance. Primary legislation should be clear and concise.
I know that we do not like to quote previous Prime Ministers, but Theresa May herself pointed out that she was concerned about the impact of these clauses on public order. She said in the House of Commons that she was worried that it would put off victims from coming forward.
I strongly support Amendment 68A, which I know the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, will say more about; the noble Lord, Lord Randall, has unfortunately had to go home, so I will leave that to her. It would replace Clause 62 with a new version that focuses on situations where a person may pose a genuine threat and not on victims who may have a minor criminal history. I look forward to hearing the noble and learned Baroness when she moves that amendment, which I strongly support.
I also strongly support Amendment 70, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord McColl, which has significant cross-party support. It proposes what the Government should be doing, instead of some of the appalling clauses in the Bill. It seeks to guarantee support for confirmed victims of trafficking. I look forward to the noble Lord’s introduction; I fully support what he is doing.
Turning to Amendment 70ZA, in my name and those of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham, I do not understand why something in the Bill would treat children in exactly the same way as adults. It is just beyond belief that the Government consider doing that. Indeed, in Committee, the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Wolfson, said
“it would be wrong in principle to create a carve-out for any one group of individuals, and to create a two-tiered system based … on age”.—[Official Report, 10/2/22; col. 1845.]
I do not often fundamentally disagree—well, I do—but on this issue, I cannot say how much I disagree with that comment. I just cannot understand it. The noble Lord is a distinguished lawyer and barrister. The law treats people differently on the basis of age; why? It does so for reasons that are well established, yet in this Bill, with respect to slavery we are treating people of any age in exactly the same way. It is nonsensical; it generates disbelief. I cannot understand why anybody would do it. Should the House divide, I hope that noble Lords will support it.
Despite the number of exploited child victims who are traumatised, the Government have brought forward provisions that have no specific recognition of children. That is not normal policy-making. The amendment would provide that the best interests of the child must always be the primary consideration, that a slavery or trafficking notice may not be served on child victims, and a number of other things. I will not go through the amendment, but noble Lords will see that for what it is.
I say once again that I cannot believe, in a legislature in 2022, when we are talking about modern slavery, that a child victim who turned up to a first responder would be subject to exactly the same provisions as an adult. I do not think that that is right. Maybe others will have great legal and logical opinions, but I think that you do not treat children in the same way as adults. It does not mean that you excuse illegality, but you do not treat them in the same way. Of all the amendments, that is the one that I feel most strongly about.
I very much support the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Alton. They cover many of the same issues that I have touched on in my amendment on children, ensuring that the burden of proof for a victim to enter the NRM is not heightened by the Bill.
To conclude on this group, I repeat, because it is so important, that I cannot believe a Conservative Government would drive a coach and horses through the principles on which one of the flagship policies of their tenure in office—however long that lasts—was based, which is globally recognised and seen as a torchbearer, and all in the name of an uncontrolled increase in the numbers being referred to the NRM of people who are using it as an excuse to circumvent the Immigration Rules. The Government should sort that out, rather than undermining their Modern Slavery Act.