My Lords, I support my noble friend Lord Randall’s Amendment 86, to which I am delighted to have added my name. I also support other amendments in this group. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests as a member of RAMP. I debated whether to add my comments to this already extended debate, but it is important that the record clearly demonstrate that voices on all sides of the House have raised their concerns about this clause.
This nation has a proud history of ending the evils of the slave trade, and on multiple occasions the Government have recognised the importance of building on this history. My noble friend the Minister used the standard Home Office line to take when he said:
“The UK has led the world in protecting victims of modern slavery and we will continue to identify and support those who have suffered intolerable abuse at the hands of criminals and traffickers”.
I agree that the UK has led the world in bringing forward legislation that protects victims of modern slavery, and some of us were deeply involved in bringing it about, but I simply cannot see how the Bill enables us to continue to identify and support those who have suffered intolerable abuse at the hands of criminals and traffickers.
As it stands, the Bill will prevent the care of victims of slavery and in so doing will damage our reputation. When I was a Conservative special adviser, we talked about the modern slavery legislation as one of our proudest achievements, but clauses in this Bill, coming fresh on the heels of the Nationality and Borders Act, are systematically dismantling that achievement, as we have already heard.
Through the Illegal Migration Bill two things are happening regarding slavery. First, support is removed for those who have been exploited and enslaved if they arrive in the UK via irregular routes. Secondly, the Bill makes it much harder to catch and stop the traffickers and slave-drivers, who are the real villains. Amendment 86 would rectify those two serious moral and practical issues in the Bill.
First, if someone is trafficked to the UK via irregular routes and is enslaved in the UK, the provisions in the Bill will prevent them being referred to the national referral mechanism or having the protection of the Modern Slavery Act. This covers most of the men, women and children who are trafficked into slavery in the UK. Amendment 86 would ensure that those who have been exploited and abused while in the UK, whether they are a UK citizen or not, receive the care and support they need. It would level the playing field by saying that, regardless of your mode of entry, if you are a victim of slavery you cannot simply be detained and removed.
Secondly, the amendment would address the misguided nature of the legislation. As we have heard, victims of slavery hold the key to the prosecution of perpetrators. This is vital to remember. As drafted, the Bill will prevent victims coming forward to give evidence because of the fear of being detained and removed.
Evidence is already starting to emerge from UK police forces that the erosion of victim protection from the Nationality and Borders Act is severely
hampering the prosecution of perpetrators. If we leave this Bill as it stands, it will hamper prosecutions even further. Surely, its whole purpose is to stop these illegal acts. Amendment 86 creates space for victims of slavery to come forward.
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The question that needs to be asked is why the Government would not accept this amendment. My noble friend the Minister will make the argument that the national referral mechanism is being widely abused by those crossing the channel in small boats and therefore access to the mechanism must be removed, but, respectfully, this is simply not the case. First, as we have heard, no one can refer themselves to the NRM—only official first responders can—and 49% of referrals in 2022 were made by government agencies. Gaining the protections granted through the NRM requires rigorous process. Secondly, only 6% of small boats arrivals in 2022 were referred to the NRM, as my noble friend Lord Randall has already mentioned.
I encourage the Government seriously to consider accepting Amendment 86. Not doing so will ensure that more people stay enslaved and exploited as a result of this Bill, because it will give the slave drivers and traffickers another weapon to hold people in slavery and exploitation. We need to hear Theresa May when she says that, on this issue, this Bill is
“bad for victims, bad for the prosecution of slave drivers and bad for the reputation of the United Kingdom.”—[Official Report, Commons, 26/4/23; col. 810.]
I urge the Government to adopt this amendment for the sake of our moral character, our international reputation and, most importantly, the victims of modern slavery in the UK. But if that does not motivate them, I urge them to accept it for the sake of their own stated objectives.