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The Modern Slavery Act: 10 years on

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

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

Editorial: Spotlight on temporary migration in Canada 

Canada’s temporary migration system fosters systemic worker vulnerability and modern slavery risks by tying migrants’ legal status to employer-specific permits and denying clear paths to permanent residence. Read more of the article

(Im)migrant worker programmes or unfree worker regime

A just and sustainable labour (im)migration policy must eliminate employer-tied permits and replace them with rights-based, government-led systems that ensure freedom, permanent status access, and protection for all migrant workers. Read more of the article

Reshaping responsibility: Platforms, clients and the online gig economy

Karthika Nadarajah highlights how digital platforms reshape gig work, but client accountability is lacking. Shared responsibility models and clearer roles can balance fairness with innovation in the gig economy. Read more of the article

People-powered welfare: Including lived experience in redesigning employment support  

Niall Cooper and Jane Perry emphasise the importance of including individuals with lived experience in reforming the employment support system to effectively address economic inactivity and enhance welfare policies. Read more of the article

A pro-worker Labour government must scrap the ‘any jobs’ approach to welfare policy 

On the Futures of Work blog, Katy Jones highlights how the existing ‘any jobs’ approach to welfare taken by successive governments pushes people into poor-quality work which they then often struggle to get out of. Read more of the article

The New Deal for Working People: The labour interest in the national interest?

Frederick Harry Pitts shows that policies like the New Deal for Working People and their potential for accelerated rollout offer Labour a chance to campaign effectively, turning narrow marginal wins into secure Labour seats for a second term. Read more of the article

Migration and the future of work: The West Midlands Combined Authority view

Clare Boden considers the diverse makeup of the West Midlands. Each year the West Midlands CA supports over 12,000 refugees and migrants through adult education, integration into the workplace and support with setting up businesses. Read more of the article

A living wage increases economic productivity while reducing poverty – new report