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// Issue 33

The Modern Slavery Act: 10 years on

By Chris Pesterfield

Issue 33 // 13th October 2025

Ten years on, the UK’s Modern Slavery Act remains a landmark law that raised awareness but failed to meaningfully reduce exploitation, revealing deep tensions between labour rights, immigration policy, and genuine corporate accountability. Read more of the article

Migrant Workers’ Future Looks Daunting: Reforming the Sponsored Visas System Can Change That

By Olivia Vicol

Issue 33 // 13th October 2025

Migrant workers are vital to the UK economy, but since Brexit, the government’s restrictive employer-sponsored visa system has enabled widespread exploitation, deepened worker vulnerability, and undermined progressive labour reform. Read more of the article

Building Better Systems for Survivors of Exploitation

By Nina Briggs

Issue 33 // 13th October 2025

Modern slavery in the UK, especially in Northern Ireland, persists due to systemic neglect, slow justice, and inadequate survivor support, leaving victims trapped while abusers go unpunished. Read more of the article

Everything Everywhere All at Once: Where is the “Modern Slavery” Agenda Heading?

By Pankhuri Agarwal and Sharmila Parmanand

Issue 33 // 13th October 2025

The modern slavery agenda has shifted from protecting workers’ rights to serving political and corporate interests through surveillance, border control, and spectacle, while ignoring the structural causes of exploitation. Read more of the article

Reflections and recommendations from the second U.K. Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

By Dame Sara Thornton

Issue 33 // 13th October 2025

Dame Sara Thornton warns that political neglect and the conflation of slavery with immigration have weakened victim protection and enforcement, calling for stronger business accountability, independent oversight, and preventive labour reforms. Read more of the article

Graves into Gardens

By Brandon Thomas

Issue 33 // 13th October 2025

Ending modern slavery requires seeing survivors as people first and embedding their lived experience, dignity, and leadership into laws, workplaces, and business practices. Read more of the article