During her time as home secretary and prime minister, Theresa May spoke repeatedly about her quest to eradicate the scourge of modern slavery. But the labour exploitation that exists within the baggy notion of modern slavery is so wide-ranging that comparisons with historical slavery are misleading and simplistic, she argues. “This is madness if we supposedly want to ‘end modern slavery’, that is, reduce exploitation,” Kenway writes. But between April 2017 and end of 2018, the Home Office rejected 310 applications for discretionary leave to remain and 65 asylum claims made by child victims of modern slavery; in 2015 only 12% of adults who were officially recognised as modern slavery victims were given discretionary leave to remain. Kenway damns the modern slavery legislation with faint praise, concluding it has had “some positive effects”.

Source: The Guardian March 24, 2021 12:00 UTC