26/10/2017 House of Commons

Would it be possible for that to

happen?

I am sure

the Leader of the House will take on

board the views of the House and

will want to check what information

was given and I am sure the House

matters to all members and therefore

I would like to think things will be

put in place to make sure things do

not happen like that again. We now

come to the backbench debate on the

implementation of the modern slavery

act 2015. Vernon Coaker to move.

Thank you. Can I refer to my

declaration of interests in the

members register? Can I also thank

the honourable member for Maidstone

and all the other colleagues who

have helped bring about this

backbench business debate here this

afternoon? Can I thank the Minister

as well for her attendants? I know

all members are united by their

desire to do as much as we can to

tackle the scourge of modern

slavery. Over 200 years ago,

politicians described slavery as an

activity so enormous and horrible

that there was no parallel to it in

the annals of the world. Wilberforce

said it was our duty to put a stop

speediest possible to the traffic

and sale of our fellow men, but here

we are in 2017 were slavery still

exists in our country and the

horrible reality demands more than

our emotional outrage, it demands

even more action on our part. Just

15 years ago, many MPs would have

suggested that perhaps slavery did

not exist. But thanks, and I say

this to the campaign and for many

people in this House including

former colleagues, much has changed.

Referrals into the Government's

mechanism for identifying rises

year-on-year. The number of

prosecutions also rises annually. We

have a parliament and indeed, to be

fair, a Prime Minister with a

genuine desire to tackle this issue.

We have what was regarded and is to

be fair, trailblazing act that

offers life sentences for

traffickers and provides a statutory

defence against criminality for

victims. We have additional funding

going to police, international aid

and safe houses. And the commitment

from all of us in this House and

those who work in the Home Office on

this issue cannot be doubted. I hope

the Home Secretary will accept this

in the spirit that I mean it, that

it is important to challenge where

we are, and we look at what still

needs to be done in order to take

this issue forwards. For too often,

what we say does not happen in

practice. Many traffickers

themselves are not getting caught,

and those who are caught in many

circumstances are receding minimal

sentences. And many slaves are not

being freed. When they are, and many

are being lost, as the Minister

knows, our children. The challenge

for us is to find them. More

potential victims are being

identified. 3805 in 2016. I want to

point out that 1227 of those were

actually children in our country, in

2017. But it is still a long way, as

the minister will know, from her own

ministerial office's estimates of

the ten to 13,000 in this country.

So we have to ask, why is that? Why

are victims not coming forward?

Sometimes people who should

recognise victims do not identify

them. Local authorities have a duty

to identify but many are not. There

has been little funding to train

their staff and as the 2016 data

shows many local authorities find no

one at all. The second reason is we

have little to offer the victims

when they are found. We ask victims

to leave living under a trafficker's

roof, risking repercussion, threats

and violence and if adults do

consent to enter the system, there

are time-limited support, fears for

their immigration status and

long-term uncertainty, even if at

the end of the process they are

found to be victims. Should we be

surprised that the small numbers? If

we are not surprised that, what is

it we're actually going to do about

it, to actually increase that

number? The National referral

mechanism at its heart on

traumatised people who have often

only known betrayal to immediately

agreed to go into a government

system. And if they don't, they have

to fend for themselves, although a

small minority may be supported by

NGOs, with the rest receiving no

support. One NGO found outside of

the national referral system, found

three fifths of survivors will go

into the national referral

mechanism, if they are given a

preliminary period of support of say

six weeks. I would ask the Minister

if she would recognise that we need

to do more to make sure victims feel

safe and secure entering the

national referral mechanism and what

the Minister proposes to do. But

there are other problems. The

statutory national recovery and

reflection period support 45 days.

That is not in itself adequate.

Frequent delays mean an average

since 95 days and it can take longer

than that to access legal or health

support. And safe suitable

accommodation is not a given. There

is not a minimum standard. Section

50 of the slavery act gives powers

to induce regulation and support

that these have not yet been

implemented. Entire families were

example could be housed in one room,

sometimes hours away from any of the

services they need, and there is

also not enough specialist

accommodation and not just for those

with children. Traffickers often

target those with learning

difficulties or addiction issues and

yet our services for survivors oddly

do not. Would the Minister tell us

what her thoughts are about

extending the amount of faith have

provision there is for those with

specialist needs, and introduce care

standards along the lines of

recommendations published by the

human trafficking foundation and

supported by the Commissioner, to

guarantee survivors receive

high-quality support. It is this

lack of support that is a real

challenge for the system. The

Minister will also know that the UK

has no data on what actually happens

to victims beyond the 45 days, and

no system to ensure survivors don't

fall back actually into

exploitation. We spent 10 million

each year providing short-term

support, only to end the support

once the decision is made on whether

the person is actually trafficked or

not. The Modern Slavery Act, unlike

other acts, does not explicitly

place a duty on the state to provide

support or state the victim's

entitlements. Section 49 says these

will be set up in guidance but can I

ask the minister when that guidance

is set to be published?

Thank you

for giving way. He may not know that

this is a very important campaign

for the co-operative party. Isn't it

the case that people who have been

entrapped into slavery do not stop

being victims when it has been

identified, it can take many years

for them to recover and rebuild

their lives?

I thank my honourable

friend. That is the crucial point

which is often why Eddie end of the

45 day period, there is a period of

further support they may be given,

but the evidence shows the vast

majority of people who enter that,

fall back into exploitation or

indeed read trafficked. Something

needs to be done to deal with that.

And again, just picking up on my

honourable friend's point, the

police say they have referred the

same individual often into the

national referral mechanism multiple

times.

Does the honourable member

agree with me tracing perpetrators,

all of our anti-slavery aims

throughout the UK including

Scotland, how will they continue to

function effectively? Will they

function effectively once we have

left the EU, especially if it means

we will be leaving intelligence

sharing agencies like Europol?

I

think there will be challenges and I

thank the honourable member for

raising that point. We have to show

that even if we do leave the

European Union as the honourable

member says, we have to look at how

we replicate those systems with

whatever deal is done. It is crucial

to the victims, and I totally agree

with that remark. Mr Deputy Speaker,

each time survivors have left safe

houses, they remain destitute again

and targeted by traffickers. It is

life destroying for the survivors.

Surely, and I say to the Minister,

we have to accept that the

short-term system of support fails

us all and we need to look both as

victims, the police and government

and all of us at what more we could

do. If I could just finish this

point. For example, a refugee

granted asylum receives five years

of leave to remain in the UK. Surely

some in is recognised as enslaved

and entitle a person to some sort of

similar provision if not indeed five

years.

I thank the honourable

gentleman for giving way and

congratulate him on bringing this to

the House. He is making an excellent

speech on such an important issue.

Would he agree with me that

domestically the justice system in

the UK is not set up to deal with

these matters and the burden of

proof is so high for a conviction,

that very often someone goes free

and the leave to remain is dependent

on a conviction, when those two

things should absolutely be

separated?

I will come onto that but

that is absolutely crucial, that

relationship between a victim and

often are placed into and

immigration system where they are

regarded as trafficked but they have

no status in the UK. I know that is

something the Minister is looking at

but it is a real problem with the

way the system operates at the

moment. The work and pensions

committee made recommendations along

these lines. We cannot continue to

lose so many survivors, many of them

back to the same traffickers. As

Wilberforce himself said, you may

choose to look the other way, but

you can never again say you did not

know. It is upon us as legislators

to say what we actually going to do

about this? Survivors need time and

assistance...

I thank my right

honourable friend for giving way, he

has been generous with his time. One

of the critical issues here is a

inspection and enforcement within

the Labour market. Would he agree

with me that resource in that is a

crucial point? A recent report by

focus on Labour exploitation,

charity of which I am a trustee,

detailed how far we are lagging

behind other countries and they

recommended levels of resource Inc.

Is he concerned that we only have

4000 inspectors per 10,000 workers

when Poland and Norway have twice as

many and Ireland spends twice as

much and does he think the issue

needs to be addressed by the

Minister?

I think my honourable

friend put the question very well.

There is a need to look at the whole

area of labour enforcement. I know

the cooperation between the gang

masters licensing and the Home

Office, it is that sharing of data

and information is important. If I

can make one other point, it is also

this case of awareness. Just last

week in my own authority, Gedling

Borough Council, there was a farm

and they found a victim of labour

exploitation working on their farm.

It was found either person being

aware, a chance remark that caused

them to question what was happening.

I think part of it was enforcement

but it is also about raising

awareness said people may question

what is happening in terms of trying

to report back to the appropriate

authorities. I will give way. Can I

just say before I do give way, the

Speaker, I have been in this House a

long time and you give way a lot,

but you cannot have it both ways.

I'm sure that you want to finish

within 15 minutes to give everybody

from when you started, because the

benefit of it is, I will be putting

a time limit of seven minutes on. I

don't want to have to reduce that to

six. Are you sure you want to?

If I

may, thank you for giving way. As

someone who has prosecuted offences

of servitude in the past, I am

grateful to him for the passion he

is showing for this horrible

offence. Would he join me in Penn

tribute to the Salvation Army who

held an event to get a message out

that everyone needs to be on their

guard?

Can I just say on the serious

point that the honourable member has

raised, of course I pay tribute to

people like that in Cheltenham, but

also to all the honourable members

of this House so I know to draw to

the authority of their areas to

combat this crime. Mr Deputy

Speaker, survivors need time and

assistance to access justice, but

also accessing compensation,

something tried to recognise as

critical by the Modern Slavery Act.

Surely we don't want to make crime

pay? Between 2004 and 2014, 211

persons were convicted of human

trafficking and slavery. But

according to the figures I have got,

only eight compensation orders were

made for these crimes, amounting in

total to £70,000. It does seem to me

that we do need to look at this

whole question of compensation for

victims. And where the courts do

order traffickers to pay, many do

not pay up, having moved their

assets abroad, again, something we

need to look at and I would be

grateful if the Minister in her

response does. Gene Simmons, a

tireless campaigner who seized an

award from the human trafficking

foundation provides a powerful

example of how powerful it is for

survivors to access support. Her son

Daryl was enslaved by a traveller

family. He worked day and night for

over 13 years for no pay. The police

refused to recognise that he was at

risk some in the end he was found

and recognised by his own family.

Four years after being rescued,

Daryl has still not had a penny of

compensation and nor has he received

the sort of support that we might

expect. It is also the case that

while the act focuses on criminal

justice without prioritising

support, I would suggest to the

minister we will not get the level

of prosecutions, let alone the level

of convictions that we would want.

Prosecution and conviction rates are

broadly rising but still remain far

too low. According to the CPS, 295

human trafficking prosecutions were

completed in 2016/ 17. However, the

number of convictions actually fell

from 192 in 15/16 to 181 in 2016/

17. The police often say why they

are failing to catch victims, they

are unable to get access to art

accommodation or benefits and many

will go missing before they get into

the national referral mechanism. But

there are many challenges also

facing the police. The HMRC report

this week said however, many victims

of modern slavery received a wholly

inadequate service from the police.

And the report described at host of

concerns.

An independent inspector made a

number of really serious criticisms

about the way in which the police

dealt with this issue, lack of focus

on victims, tendency to refer those

without equal status to an

immigration services, appoint our

colleague was speaking, concerns

about the quality of investigations,

investigations being closed

prematurely. This is what HMIC said,

the result was that we are leaving

victims of protected while offenders

are not brought to justice. To

conclude with a couple of further

remarks, as I think you are

encouraging me to do, I have not

touched on the issue of children.

Yet we have seen with respect to

children large numbers of children,

many brought into care of the state

as a result of trafficking or

suspected of being trafficked. What

happens to those children as we saw

in a recent report is many abscond,

leave or are taken away. It cannot

be acceptable that in our country in

2017, we cannot protect our children

that are brought into the care of

the state. It cannot be right. So we

need to understand and think what

more can be done. I think it is

important that we look at the act,

review it, consider the section is

still to be implemented, we consider

what more needs to be done. I will

finish with this. In 2006, I was the

minister in the Home Office and I

had responsibility for this area of

work. In 2017, and for four years

between 2006 and 2017, I had much of

the responsibility for dealing with

this, so when I challenged the

Government, it is a challenge to all

of us, to what I did, to everyone of

us, to every local authority, every

police force, everyone amongst us,

that we have to challenge ourselves

to do better, it is not acceptable

that modern slavery still exists, it

is a blight on the conscience of

this nation and whilst we have done

a lot, there is so much more to do.

Those people who are enslaved

deserve our help and support. Can I

just say, what an important debate

it is? The question is, the House

has considered the implementation of

the modern slavery act 2015. The

seven minute limit from now on.

I

declare an interest in this debate

as a trustee of the Human

Trafficking Foundation. I first of

all want to pay tribute to a group

of mainly former parliamentarians

and a former judge who is still in

the other place. Anthony Steen, MBE,

Baroness Butler-Sloss, the right

honourable Clare Short, The right

honourable Sir John Randall, and the

right honourable Fiona McTaggart.

Not forgetting of course the right

honourable member current chair of

the APPG jeep on human trafficking

and modern slavery. Without their

passion, foresight and commitment,

we would not be in the position we

are today in the cause of defeating

human trafficking. I also want to

thank the Salvation Army and its

partners for the incredible work

they do at the coal face, looking

after and supporting victims of this

terrible crime. For me, human

trafficking is a scourge, it does

not discriminate, it permeates

across age, race, class and gender.

It also crushes self-confidence and

self-esteem which are the

prerequisites for aspiration,

motivation and success. This

exploitation of vulnerable men,

women and children by predatory

criminal groups is something that no

civilised society should tolerate.

It creates victims who are often

some of the most vulnerable members

of society, separated from their

families and friends with no access

to financial help or support. As I

speak today, I am reminded of a

young man I met around three years

ago when I was the victim 's

Minister. He dispelled many of the

myths surrounding human trafficking,

namely he was a man, he was British,

and he was trafficked for forced

labour. He bravely shared with me

his story of absolute misery. And

how he was dehumanised and degraded.

The meeting drove home to me just

how important it is for government,

local authorities and all of our

partners to work more effectively

together. Thanks to the efforts of

many, including our Prime Minister,

some good progress has been made in

tackling in combating trafficking.

Indeed the modern slavery act 2015

has been a landmark for success. We

now have a wide range of laws to

protect victims and a wide range of

organisations to support victims but

there is still much more that needs

to be done. There needs to be far

more focus on prevention by tackling

the issue at source and working

smarter at our borders. We must

improve prosecution and conviction

rates, improve data collection, and

deal with ongoing scepticism and

poor response, still greeting

victims when they try to report

abuse. This can certainly come from

people and organisations that ought

to know better, such as the police.

I know this government's ambition is

to eradicate all forms of human

trafficking. I know too many

millions of pounds have been spent

in supporting victims. But I think

our Home Secretary summed up the

position very well and candidly when

she wrote the following in April of

this year. She said, we must be

better at getting immediate support

to victims when they are at their

most vulnerable. Otherwise they just

slip through the net. To be abused

all over again. Then we lose any

opportunity to gain information on

the criminals who exploited them in

the first place. We also want to

make sure that victims are able to

rebuild their lives. Our aspiration

to help these people is in the right

place, but at present, the provision

of support may yet not be. Clearly

the Home Secretary recognises that

more needs to be done. And I will

therefore focus my suggestions today

on what can be done, on a group of

people who the authorities accept as

victims of human trafficking, namely

those who receive a positive and

conclusive grounds decision. First

of all, the conclusive grounds

decision must carry with it more

status, weight and meaning. In my

view, victims of trafficking victim

to the same vulnerable group as

refugees and victims of torture. It

therefore seems right that

conclusive grounds should carry with

them the same 12 months residency

permit, not only would this provide

the stability and assurances that

victims need to begin to recover,

but it would also create a better

environment for victims to assist

law enforcement agencies in finding

and prosecuting perpetrators.

Second, the paperwork received by

victims with positive conclusive

grounds must be recognisable and

transferable, the current form, to

be frank, is flimsy, short and

unhelpful. This should be recognised

by other government departments and

agencies and allow access to

appropriate services. Third, victims

need advice from those who

understand the system in relation to

accommodation, immigration and

employment support. The system which

personally, as a lawyer, some 23

years, now an MP, I often struggle

to deal with. Victims with

conclusive grounds should have

access to a case worker to help them

comply with the procedures and

access services. Fourth, victims

need a roof over their heads. I ask

the Minister to consider introducing

some greater flexibility in the

moving on the victim from a safe

house. The safe house of course

should not be permanent long-term

accommodation but the current cliff

edge approach of losing the safe

house accommodation two weeks after

the conclusive grounds decision is

failing and not satisfactory. Mr

Deputy Speaker, Madam Deputy

Speaker, forgive me, human

trafficking is a scourge, it is

abhorrent and inexcusable and every

time I hear about an incident or

meet a victim, I think, what kind of

world are we living in and what can

we do to make things better? Every

victim and witness of a crime needs

to know they will be offered all

their help support they need and

deserve to move on in their lives

and bring perpetrators to justice.

We can do better. We must do better.

Thank you.

The anti-slavery

commissioner stressed this week

using children to transport and sell

Class A drugs is a form of

modern-day slavery. He said the

police and other agencies were not

seeing it for what it is, the use of

children and young people as

commodities by criminal gangs. He

said that more and more lines were

being discovered each day but there

was often a lack of sympathy for the

victims. He was responding to the

HMIC report. The criminal

exploitation of children to sell

drugs is the next big grooming

scandal, it has many similarities to

grooming in the child sexual

exploitation cases in places like

Rochdale. The National Crime Agency

say 82% of police forces have

reported activity in their area. I

have been told by a well-informed

police source there could be up to

1000 county lines operating

throughout the country from major

cities where there are

well-established criminal gangs

including London, Liverpool and

Manchester. And although the

exploitation of children by

organised crime to carry and sell

drugs is not new, there is a huge

and growing problem of children

being groomed to supply Class A

drugs, crack cocaine and heroin,

around the country. This usually

involves going from an urban area

expanding their operations by

crossing one or more police force

boundaries to rural areas, setting

up a secure base and using one is to

conduct day-to-day dealing. A county

lines enterprise must always

involves the exploitation of

vulnerable children and adults. As

more are set up, more children are

being targeted and groomed to carry

on supply drugs. For the criminal

gangs, it is a very successful

business. New markets bring more

income and using children and young

people reduces the gang's risk of

detection. For the children and

young people, it often ends in drug

and alcohol addiction, violence, is

other sexual explication. They

become criminals and the groomers

and exploiters of other children.

The extent of it is very difficult

to map as data is collected by

various agencies and there was

little sharing of that data. This

week I was invited by Greater

Manchester Police to help launch an

excellent new campaign called

Tractor will raise awareness of how

young people can get drawn into

county lines. -- trapped. The police

found a young boy in Blackpool

Avenue this week who they said was

relieved to be locked up, his face

was green, as he had been so badly

beaten -- in Blackpool only this

week. Key to the approach is working

in schools, youth centres, housing

and drug services, to prevent young

people getting embedded or

furthering indebted into criminal

gangs, to provide them with safe

people to talk to. Some children are

vulnerable because of chaotic family

relationships, some are looked after

children, some may have older

siblings caught up in drugs, others

might have parents who are complicit

in the use of their child by

gangster helped feed their own drug

habit. Methods include offers of

cash and goods, coercion, young

people having to work back to pay

back a drug debt owed to a gang

member. I chair the all-party

Parliamentary group on runaway and

missing children. And adults. Which

is supported by the Children's

Society and missing people. We held

a Round Table in March on county

lines taking evidence from victims,

parents, experts and agencies. Can I

thank the honourable member for her

attendance at the round table? The

report we produced after the Round

Table made clear that children from

all backgrounds are at risk of being

drawn into county lines, the parents

who gave evidence to the Round Table

did not meet the profile of a

chaotic family, their sons had

become involved through friendships

with other young people who had

associations with gangs. Pressure on

young people is huge and at a time

of transition from childhood to

adolescents, they are particularly

vulnerable to the pressure from

peers. Young people can get drawn

into what initially looks like a

good offer in terms of cash and

lifestyle but end up being trapped

and coerced by very terrifying

people. Looked after children are

particular target for grooming by

criminal gangs, those placed miles

away from home areas

can be especially vulnerable, there

are additional difficulties in

keeping children safe when they are

placed far away. It is hard for a

social worker to give support from

hundreds of miles away. It is

concerning there has been a 78%

increase nationally in children

placed in children's poems out of

borough from March, 2012. Parents

whose children were exploited its

breast despair at the Round Table --

expressed despair. My concern is the

response of the safeguarding system

is increasing the vulnerability of

young people. The parent who is not

supported will leave the child more

vulnerable. The placing of a child

in a children's home targeted by

criminal gangs increases their

vulnerability. Failing to

appropriately assess risk in missing

is percent will increase

vulnerability.

There needs to be a more joined up

response from the National Crime

Agency and police at a local level.

These crimes an aching millions from

the degradation of children,

responsible for endless beatings,

stabbing and murder. We also need to

disrupt the grooming of vulnerable

children at an early age, at the

same time as prosecuting gang

members. Preventing children getting

into gangs in turn prevents more

victims. We need to look at the

better use of child abduction

warning notices and the child

referral mechanism needs to be

better understood as it could be

used to identify children as victims

of exploit Asian and this in turn

makes it easier to prosecute their

exploiters under trafficking laws.

They are the ones hiding behind the

children and they also prevent

prosecution. The exploitation of

criminal gangs is increasing and it

is shocking the message that

organised crime is getting is

provided they use children and young

people, we are powerless to do

anything about it, so we need to

find better ways of working

together, and using better resources

and a better response to

safeguarding children. Children

should be our priority.

Last week the Church of England

introduced an initiative which is

aimed at tackling modern day

slavery. It draws on excellent work

pioneered by the Bishop of Derby. It

is used to detect incidences of

modern day slavery in their midst

and provide appropriate support for

victims. There are many tools to

help end slavery within the local

community, and the church which is

present in all communities has an

inherent responsibility to leave

these efforts. The Archbishop of

Canterbury said William Wilberforce

convinced his generation that

slavery was a sin. That is much

range but there is ignorance around

it. The charity takes its name from

a group of sisters who were founded

to help marginalised women but the

legacy today will be to address

modern day slavery. The campaign

slogan is: we see you.

The aim is to empower people like us

to spot the signs of modern forms of

slavery happening all around us in

our towns, cities and villages. They

could be right in the midst of

communities where we live. We do not

always know the signs and we do not

know what are the right questions to

ask. Modern slavery is a hidden

crime so we have to take seriously

the injunction to know who our

neighbour really is. Our neighbour

could be a homeless man forced into

work. It could be a girl kept into

domestic servitude. Victims may be

nearly invisible to us so we have to

develop sharper eyes in order to

detect their needs, hence, we see

you, the campaign. The initiative is

designed to help dieses help develop

strategies to protect their

communities by offering monitoring.

Crucially, it gives people contacts

to reach out to if they spot signs

of slavery and I worried that people

are trapped in it. Nationally, it

developed a network of practitioners

who can provide evidence -based data

to resource the church's national

engagement with statutory and

non-statutory bodies. The project

has taken best practice from Derby

and now there are ten other

participating dioceses, Bath and

Wells, Chester, Durham, Liverpool,

Portsmouth, Southwark and

Nottingham. A further 14 dioceses

are due to sign up later this year

and it is hoped the church's 42

dieses and 12,000 parishes will all

become mobilised in the battle to

eradicate modern day slavery. Of

course, the landscape image is so

different so the approach and

training will need to be

contextualised, but there is no

doubt this approach can make a

difference. If we take in the

vanguard the Bishop of Derby and his

diocese which was right in the

forefront of this, and Bishop

Alistair was on the modern day

slavery Bill committee, along with

other members present, we can see

the key to this is developing a

strong working relationship with key

agencies, the police, the council

and other agencies who can reach out

and provide assistance to victims.

Within the church, the mothers union

has taken on a need for supplies for

victims, by fund-raising and

producing emergency packs for them.

There are many examples from this

initiative of each diocese taking

the opportunity to help and I

encourage every member present to

read the account. This is not to

diminish the good work carried

across the country by secular NGOs

and our community and I would like

to highlight the work of Soroptimist

International of Great Britain and

Ireland. It has undertaken surveys

online and face-to-face to

understand how much the public

actually knows and what their

perceptions are of slavery and human

trafficking. This survey is to help

the UK modern slavery training

delivery group to assess the level

of public knowledge, in order to

help combat it. As of last week, we

know over 3700 online surveys had

been completed and over 400 paper

surveys have been returned. When we

made a bid before the Backbench

Business Committee last week, one of

the issues I wanted to join in

raising was the issue of child

trafficking. I was shocked to read a

report in The Times which Baroness

Butler-Sloss said was very

disturbing, about scores of miners

who fall back into the hands of

traffickers. Nine the vicar -- many

children go missing every year. In

that report in the Times, Kevin

Hyland, the anti-slavery

commissioner has expressed his

concern that the frequency and speed

of which the mini is miners go

missing. -- Vietnamese miners. I do

particularly want to join with the

honourable member for Gedling and

others who have spoken to really

impress upon the Government to go

out of its way to tackle this

terrible abuse of the most

vulnerable of the vulnerable in our

society. I beg to move.

Kerry McCarthy.

Madam Deputy

Speaker, it is a pleasure to see you

in the chair. I welcome the Modern

Slavery Act and imparticular section

54 on supply chains which was

something we had to fight quite hard

for. Despite the legislation as the

National Crime Agency said earlier

this year, modern slavery is

steadily increasing. There are many

industries in which modern slavery

goes undetected, everyday situations

right and our nose. 20 cases of

modern slavery have been

investigated in Bristol over the

last, including Eastern European

workers who were exploited by a

Bristol car wash and forced to work

long hours for low pay. One had

worked 18 months for no pay at all

and it is believed five others are

in the same situation. In July this

year, police arrested people

following a raid on a nail bar in

Southmead in Bristol, my honourable

friend's constituency. Unseen, a

Bristol-based charity who works to

eradicate modern day slavery and

runs the modern day slavery helpline

is currently running a net nail it

campaign which aims to stop slavery

in nail bars. I am happy to support

that campaign, hence my bright pink

nails today. And I think Avon and

Somerset police who support it and

ended up on the front page of the

Sun newspaper and were denounced by

the honourable member for Monmouth,

I believe they were right to do that

as well. Over the past 12 months in

the wider Avon and Somerset area,

police adults with 60 investigations

and have seen a significant increase

in modern slavery related

intelligence and also calls to the

helpline went up following that

awareness campaign. But the police

do need to be properly resourced and

as my local police in China Leave --

Police and Crime Commissioner said

they do not have the resources to

carry out basic policing functions

let alone mount investigations. Both

the gang masters licensing authority

and HMIC have received cuts to deal

with their capacity in slavery

offences. A firm could inspect a

visit only once every 250 years.

Many of the call about nail bars

fight the physical or psychological

state of workers, inappropriate

sleeping accommodation, poor working

conditions, lack of spoken English,

cheap prices, cash only transactions

and concerns of abuse and violence.

They need to -- they seem to be

intimidated by their bosses.

Customers need to be aware of these

issues. The Southmead raid was

prompted by a tip-off from a member

of the public who raised concerns

about a woman's welfare. Without

that into ventilation --

intervention it could have taken

longer to take the woman to a place

of safety. People do need to know

the signs of modern slavery in their

community. Victims may appear

withdrawn. They may have few

possessions. They may have few

clothes, all live and work at the

same address, may be dropped off and

collected for work on a regular

basis, either very early or very

late at night. People do need to be

vigilant, as I have said. Finally, I

want to say a bit about slavery in

the food processing, fishing and

agricultural sectors which remain a

huge issue. Unite the union's

excellent from plough to plate

report, said employers are some of

the worst exploiters of workers,

with countless instances of abuse,

meeting the legal definitions of

slavery and enforced labour. Lusty

group of Lithuanian chicken farmers

won their case against two Kent

-based gang masters who had forced

them to work under threat of

violence and kept them in squalid

living conditions. In another 2016

case, two Lithuanian men had been

trafficked and worked in a meat

processing plant. They had their pay

withheld and were subjected to

violence but the traffickers were

only sentenced to 3.5 years in jail.

The environment of Justice

foundation has done as Bob will work

over the last five years, exposing

modern slavery in the Thailand

seafood sector, under covering,

there have been casing people kept

at the four years, being moved from

ship to ship and never reaching

shore to reach sanctuary. Despite

reforms, forced labour continues to

be widespread, including the

shocking statistic that 59% of Thai

fishing workers had witnessed the

murder of a fellow worker. Many more

had had wages and sleep been

withheld from them. Millions of

pounds worth of seafood products

imported from Thailand every year.

Another example from just this week,

is two of Italy's biggest tomato

suppliers for UK supermarkets have

been indicated in labour abuses with

workers being required to work 12

hours a day, seven days a week with

minimal pay and no access to medical

care. Those are a few examples of

something which is incredibly

widespread. In 2015 the Economist

described the transparency of

slavery requirement of a light

touch. I would say the Government

needs to go further. A full

complement -- statement should be

legally binding. Specifically in

relation to the seafood sector and

the fishing industry, the

environmental Justice foundation is

calling for transnational approaches

for all countries to fully ratify

and implement the convection an work

and fishing, for all countries to

amend legislation to prosecute

national citizens engaged in human

trafficking, on vessels registered

to another country, and for

retailers and to establish

effectively -- effective

transparency, including committing

to independent third-party

unannounced auditing of supply

chains. Madam Deputy Speaker, cheap

products and services often come at

an unseen cost and we must ask

ourselves, just how come prices are

so low. If it seems too good to be

true, it probably is. Such services

should never be used. We all need to

play a role in suffocating slavery

at source by exercising vigilance.

It is a pleasure to follow the

honourable member, she made some

excellent points. I want to pay

tribute to my right honourable

friend, the Prime Minister, for her

dedication when Home Secretary to

start to read our nation of this

evil practice of modern slavery and

leading the way globally -- read our

nation. The Modern Slavery Act 2015

is a world leading legislation and

it is of paramount importance that

other countries follow our lead. The

member has already expressed the

important role the Bishop of Derby

played in driving the legislation to

where we are today. With my

constituency being on the doorstep

of Derby, listening to the bishops

speak on the subject really inspired

me to take more than just a passing

interest in this, it is probably

because of the Bishop I am here

today. The Bishop has been at the

forefront of the fight against

modern slavery with the

establishment of the Derby and

publisher modern slavery

partnership, -- the Derby and

Derbyshire modern slavery

partnership. This collaboration of

organisations across different

sectors is drawn from Derby city and

Derby County. Derbyshire as a whole.

This aims to raise awareness in the

understanding of what trafficking

is, how traffickers operate and an

understanding of the experiences of

victims. It is seen as a model of

best practice across the country. In

no way -- nowhere is immune from the

threat of modern slavery, it does

not just happen in big cities. It is

as likely to happen in the local car

wash, nail bar, in our towns, as

well as in the major cities we

automatically think of. To give this

important issue some context,

research carried out by the Home

Office in 2014 estimated that in

2013 the number of potential victims

of modern slavery in the UK was

between 10,000 up to 13,000.

Personally, I believe this is an

underestimate of the problem as more

and more people become aware of this

horrendous practice. Moore does need

to be done to educate employers and

the staff as to how to identify

people who may be modern slaves. A

recent case in Derbyshire

highlighted this. I know more

workers being done to educate both

employers and employees of what to

look for, how identify these people.

However, this number not only

represents victims trafficked into

the UK but also British adults and

children too. The National Crime

Agency estimates that in 2013 the UK

was the third most common country of

origin of identified victims. It is

happening on our doorsteps. But in

today's debate, I want to focus on

the supply chain aspect of the

legislation, the transparency in the

supply chains cause. This aspect of

the legislation applies to

commercial organisations which

operate in the UK and have an annual

turnover of £36 million. Such

businesses have to produce a slavery

and human trafficking statement each

year. The statement which is placed

on the company's website should set

out the steps taken to address and

prevent modern slavery in their

operations and supply chains. As my

interest in the subject has

developed, I have read numerous

statements from some of the largest

retailers and other businesses and I

am saddened when I read the

statements and see that they are

only paying lip service to the

legislation and do not appreciate

the importance of getting the supply

chain slavery free. In the last

Parliament, I tried to bring a

Private Members' Bill to displace to

strengthen the current legislation.

The bill was first introduced in the

House of Lords in May, 2016, by a

crossbench peer

peer, aimed to amend

the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to

require organisations and public

bodies to include a statement on

slavery and human trafficking in

their annual report, not just on the

website.

We did come across one

problem as the annual report and

accounts are legal entities, the

inclusion of the slavery statement

would have caused legal headaches,

but perhaps we need to address that

again. At the time of the

introduction of the Private Members'

Bill, the Government recognise the

2015 legislation was only the first

step towards a solution to the

problem. Currently, the legislation

only applies to the private sector,

not the public sector. To include

the public sector is still of

paramount importance. The other part

of the bill that we are looking to

introduce was to extend the

requirements of the private sector

to the public sector too. I find it

quite disturbing that the public

sector which procures vast amount of

goods and services is not included

in the legislation and I feel this

is a major flaw which currently

needs to be corrected. I was pleased

the Home Office at the time did have

meetings with the minister in her

place today so we have continuity

which is fantastic, a Home Office

agreed with the sentiment and the

aspirations of the bill and they

were developing policies in line

with what was laid out in the bill,

so I am looking forward to having

some updates from the minister when

she responds at the end of the

debate as to the progress through

the Private Members' Bill. Madam

Deputy Speaker, I am very proud we

lead the fight against modern

slavery in this country and this

battle continues to be a priority

for our government. Thank you.

Thank

you. I rise to speak in this debate

and I thank those that brought it to

the Backbench Business Committee, I

am both of those people! I was on

both sides. I just realised as I was

saying it I was thanking myself

twice! I came to this House, prior

to being here, I ran one of the

services that operate safe houses

and community-based support for

victims of modern slavery, we

largely focused our safe houses on

women and children. I think that

what I found whilst working there, I

want to tell a few of the stories of

the people I met. But the vast

majority of women now living in the

safe accommodation through the

national referral mechanism were

there because they had been

trafficked into this country for

sexual slavery. It is not sex work,

these people were slaves. I worked

with women who were forced to have

sex with over 50 men in a day, who

fed scraps from the table of the

honest Johns, my honourable friend

from Bristol has talked about our

need for vigilance. The idea that in

a modern system of sex work that we

have the idea of the honest John

saying, do you mind if I ask you

where you have come from? Are you

hear out of choice? It is a total

fallacy. It is something that

successive governments have failed

to tackle and that we really need to

be tackling now because the amount

of women prostituted from different

countries and exploited and traffic

around the country who are from the

UK originally is absolutely

phenomenal. There are hundreds and

hundreds and hundreds of women who

have gone through just the service

are used to work for and if we do

not tackle this head on, then we are

letting down the victims of slavery.

Some people may be want to call it

something more civilised like sex

work. I want to also talk about some

of the problems I found while

working in that service and I worked

very closely with the Home Office

and before that, the Ministry of

Justice, because they were

originally the department that held

it. Everybody wanted success. There

are still some major and glaring

holes in how we treat the victim and

how the victim goes on the journey.

One of the things I wonder if the

Minister could feedback on is the

difference between those who are

housed in safe houses and those

housed in generic accommodation

through the asylum system in this

country. Because the difference,

there is a two tier system for

slaves in this country, essentially,

were those that live in safe houses

are getting amazing... I would say

that! I ran up the curtains, made

them lovely, brilliant. There is a

two tier system, I remember in one

instance a woman, she did not

qualify to get into the safe us

because of immigration status, I

went to visit her in one of the

asylum accommodations, this woman

was pregnant, she was nearly nine

months pregnant, she looked

considerably thinner than even I was

at the time and she was sleeping on

the floor and was being given one

meal a day. I was there to offer her

some community support and give her

some money and she wanted to move

accommodation from where she was and

she was going to be moved that data

Nottingham through the system and I

said, normally I would kick off

about this because you are in the

very final stages of your pregnancy,

you need to stay with the continuity

of care, and she cried and begged me

to not stop her being moved. As a

practitioner who has a duty of care

to a pregnant woman, I left myself

in a terrible dilemma and that is

something that has to be tackled.

The other thing which has been

raised by my right and Bob Friend,

the chair of the all-party

Parliamentary group, the issue

around what happens after the 45 day

reflection period -- my right

honourable friend. I cannot remember

anyone coming in and are only being

45 days is the honest truth. The way

the system works as you apply to

have more days and you always get

it, to be fair. The system is not

mean in that sense, but nobody ever

only needs 45 days. Talking about

deeply traumatised people, people

trying to take their organs,

enslaving them, having sex with them

50 times a day, 45 days is never

going to be enough. But what happens

to those people afterwards is a

massive, massive concern. They are

lost from services and services like

mine which was black countrywomen's

paid, we would try and do everything

we could to keep in touch on an

informal basis with people. However,

organisations like black country

women's aid do not have the

resources, they are doing amazing

and innovative things, I saw them

last week talking about trying to

understand the links between

substance misuse and human

trafficking, really innovative

stuff, but they have 178 people in

service today on one day, they do

not have the resources as the

voluntary sector to be the system

that follows those people

afterwards. It is an organisation

dealing with 8000 people per year

across different services. The

system needs to... There needs to be

a system put in place by the

Government to ensure the drop-off

does not happen. For those who are

Patrick Head, and I think many

people would be surprised,

especially those of us who deal with

immigration cases, the number who

want to be repacked rated. That is

maybe one issue about not being up

to find those people and hoping they

are all right, but those who are

still in the UK, and how they are

being trafficked around, it has got

to be tackled. And the long-term

recovery. The issue of the criminal

compensation must be bottomed out. A

man who lived in slavery for 13

years, his aggressors were sent to

prison for two and a half years.

Currently not being able to access

compensation, that is a disgrace. He

also has no National Insurance

contributions. We have to look after

these people afterwards and make the

system that works for all of them.

Thank you very much. It is a

pleasure to follow the honourable

lady in this passionate debate. Some

of those very difficult personal

experiences really do hit home. I

would like to thank the right

honourable member for security in

this important debate and his

passionate opening, tackling modern

slavery is so important. I thank him

for his work he has done. And all

members on all sides of this House

and the organisations and

individuals who do so much. I know

the Minister shares very strong

concerns about exploitation, the

safety of women and girls, and to

make sure victims are identified and

looked after and working with

partners such as the NHS. As we have

heard, our Prime Minister in her

previous role and indeed in her

current role was absolutely leading

the example of how internationally

we will need to step up and stamp

out slavery in all forms. As the

chair of the all-party women in

Parliament group it is really

important we use the fact we have

women in Parliament, all sides and

benches, with more women than ever,

able to stand up and make these

positions heard. We have heard that

from all sides of the House. We

really need to take... Of course.

Thank you. A few months ago, we had

police raids in North Wales. There

were people who were being kept

effectively as slaves. The actual

response of a lot of people was, we

never realised this sort of thing

went on here. There is this idea

that it is only in perhaps London or

big cities, it is through the

country.

I absolutely agree with the

honourable gentleman. In fact, I

found that in my own constituency. I

did not think it affected Hampshire,

and it does. I agree we need to be

vigilant in this. We need to focus

on the drug trafficking, the

criminal exploitation we have heard

about in the agricultural sector,

the sexual exploitation of

vulnerable people and in my

particular area I found it was

people with learning difficulties as

well who were being exploited. As we

have heard, the 2015 slavery act has

been a very welcome and we heard

from my right honourable friend the

member for Maidstone and the wheeled

about some excellent points that she

raised about moving on this

ground-breaking act and I think they

were very hard to disagree with. I

think the act made a strong signal

for criminals about the vile trade

which is going on, but I think like

any act, there is a chance to move

this forward. Not only is it making

a difference locally, it is at home

and abroad. I will move on to this

other area as well about what we are

doing abroad and this is really

important about the work we are

doing through our visit finances, it

is 0.7% of GDP -- DFI D. We are

putting lots and lots of money into

this work around the world and

indeed locally, but I think we need

to focus, as we have heard from

around the Chamber on outcomes. It

is important that those affected by

modern slavery, so it is about 150

million we are spending tackling it

alone, with the 20 million global

investment fund, that we actually

look at the outcomes instead of just

talking about change. We have of

course seen the Prime Minister

working with the UN on this. We know

there were events locally in the

Speaker 's house on this as well. We

all know what we need to be done. In

Eastleigh, churches have come to me

raising their concerns. I certainly

think that they are very clued in

both locally and internationally,

about the concerns. One particular

consistency and Jacques Rogge

constituency survey was meeting a

mother and her teenage girl and

explaining what she thought was a

positive relationship was in fact

based on exploitation. I think

sometimes we think about large

exploitative gangs but sometimes it

can be down to one or two people

with a handful of young girls who

are learning this as a positive

relationship and frankly, it is not.

Another area of concern I have found

in my constituency is grown-up

children at exploiting their parents

or grandparents for drug money. In

effect, making them continue to go

to work to fund their choices, to

support those who are maybe addicted

to drugs, who are basically lodging

of the family. They are exploiting

their own family, making them carry

on going to work when they don't

need to, to fund a lifestyle choice.

When we do look at this act we

perhaps need to look more broadly.

But colleagues across this House, I

think there is more that can be done

and it has to be recognised that the

Government has taken some giant

leaps forward, particularly on the

human aspect and the pain and

suffering that we see, but business

absolutely has a role to play and

communities, seeking this out and

not letting people hide from it. In

ensuring transparency, we heard it

today, on businesses and supply

chains, the fashion industry in

particular. If we look at the

garments we are wearing, how would

we know where they were made and how

have they come to be and would we be

confident about that? I recently

went out with Hampshire Constabulary

Marine unit, as one of their

operations. My constituency in

Eastleigh is on the Hamble River. We

go on to Southampton water and

across the Solent. I would like to

say thank you so much to all the

police who are involved in the

operations they do. Absolutely, out

on those waters, making sure those

operations are doing the right

things in terms of slavery, because

people are coming across and victims

are being trafficked across and

without those members of the Marine

unit, we simply would not find out

what is going on, and they shared

with me most recently some real

concerns about what needs to be done

to help them make changes for those

people who find themselves in boats

being sent across the water. I look

forward to welcoming the comments

from the Minister and the

opportunity this House house to take

this act forward and indeed,

changing the lives of so many

people, just by opening our eyes.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can

I begin by congratulating the

honourable member for Eastleigh. The

good thing about this debate is the

passion that is being shown on all

sides of the House. And probably for

the first and only time I want to

place on record my own recognition

of the value of the Prime Minister's

role when she was Home Secretary in

bringing forward this legislation.

Partly actually because it showed

leadership on an issue where

leadership is absolutely

fundamental, whether at national or

local level. It really does make a

difference. Perhaps I should begin

almost on the same track as my

friend for Birmingham Yardley. One I

was Police and Crime Commissioner in

Greater Manchester, a woman, when a

brothel was raided, she was asked

whether she was trafficked. She

denied vehemently that under any

circumstances she was trafficked,

until she was taken to room on her

own when she said, look, I have been

trafficked. I need you to drag me

out of here in handcuffs, with me

fighting and kicking and screaming,

because I need to demonstrate to my

traffickers that I am not a willing

accomplice. This woman was no sex

worker. She was a sex slave. In that

particular case, the police were

able to work with her to bring about

a different ambition. If I go back a

few years, my honourable friend for

Gedling said going back to his time

as police Minister, I don't think

any of us were talking enough about

slavery in that time. Even when I

first begin to have conversations

about the then Chief Constable and

the now Chief Constable, we did not

I think have in Greater Manchester a

proper understanding of what slavery

was all about. I'm glad to say the

HMIC report, which was critical of

policing, did say there were some

bright spots and Greater Manchester

was one of those bright spots. I

have pride, not in myself but among

the people who have made it work.

The has-been leadership from the

present Chief Constable. The Chief

Superintendent who has direct line

responsibility, and I want to praise

Detective Sergeant Debra Hurst and

her team, because this is a

dedicated small team of officers,

only four or five of them, who have

been committed to this role. Because

they have taken the time and they

care to understand what this is all

about, they have been able, if you

like, to affect the whole of Greater

Manchester Police and beyond with an

ambition to make a difference. GMP

has trained 120 victim liaison

officers. Dealing with people who

have been through the trauma of

enslavement, by working with them,

really is of fundamental importance.

There are many languages in Greater

Manchester. Slaves themselves, those

who are enslaved come from many

language backgrounds. The police

very often are facing cultural

differences. Even some very simple

issues that women from prostitution,

for example, face. They need things

like toiletries and clean underwear.

Those kind of furry basic needs. The

fact that we now have trained victim

liaison officers who can recognise

the need to go through the journey

with people from enslavement is

really an important issue. I think a

number of members on all sides have

talked about the need for a wider

partnership, and there is no doubt

building that kind of partnership

has a number of impacts. One is

immigration, the police and border

force are all absolutely fundamental

partners in this in making a system

of protective service work and that

does make a real difference.

Building that partnership is all

about something else. It does open

up the conversation about what

enslavement looks like in our

society. Frankly, it is everywhere.

Yes, it is obvious in some aspects

of prostitution. Sometimes we see

children who have been entrapped

into the county lines. Sometimes

these are issues which we know

exist. Frankly, the people enslaved

can be in almost any occupation, any

area of activity, and we need to

recognise that. We do therefore need

to raise public awareness and if you

like, corporate awareness as well. I

thought it was sad my honourable

friend for Bristol East made the

point about the criticism of Avon

and Somerset police force. Frankly,

it's a few police officers put nail

varnish on to bring home to the

public that in our nail bars there

may be people who are enslaved, I

don't think that such a terrible

thing to do. It is a sensible thing,

because it is actually saying to the

public, please be aware, please

think about where people around you

may be enslaved. A couple of points,

if I may. One of the things that I

hope the Minister will consider, at

the moment, there is a duty to

notify, but that duty to notify is

still circumscribed, but we may be

do need to look at extending that

concept. We also have talked,

members have talked about the

facilities for when people are

broken from their enslavement is.

Very often, one of the issues is

that first night accommodation.

Where do people go, literally on the

day that police and others bring

them? I have paid for a safe place

for that emergency accommodation but

we do need to look at the issue of

ongoing accommodation, and we do

need to work with the voluntary

sector in making sure that provision

is there. And they, provision of

institutional support is absolutely

fundamental in this. If I can

finish, perhaps on a good note, my

red for Gedling talked about the

need for compensation. There is a

case of a woman Alexandra, Hungarian

woman who was tricked into coming to

the UK to Greater Manchester, with

the offer of legitimate work. She

was forced to work and I will use

the term sex worker, on the streets

of Manchester. Nothing voluntary

about that. The good news is the

police were able to work with her.

They worked with her to such an

extent, that she came back too

hungry to take place in the

prosecution. The criminal injuries

authority did Ward, they should. She

is now living with her son in

Hungary, happy and free.

I congratulate the honourable

gentleman from Gedling on bringing

this important debate and also the

honourable lady from Birmingham

Yardley, she comes to this House

with a huge experience and passion

and we're lucky to have someone with

her background in this place. This

week there was a highly critical

report that found police forces are

failing to tackle modern slavery and

human trafficking because the cases

are often too difficult and senior

officers believe the public lack

sympathy for victims. This report

should concern us all as we consider

our international obligations and

how we support those who are

involved in trafficking and modern

slavery. Sadly I have my own

constituency experience. You come to

this role and you have an idea of

what you may or may not deal with.

In my constituency of Livingston, I

have to say I did not expect to deal

with modern slavery, but the case we

have had to deal with has been

deeply distressing for my

constituent and also my constituency

staff. She was trafficked from

Nigeria to London at the age of 14,

subjected to horrific abuse,

including rape, before she escaped

to my constituency of Livingston.

The Metropolitan Police worked

incredibly hard to bring charges

against her kidnapper, but told us

in the aftermath, and when we were

dealing with her case initially, the

burden of proof in these cases is

often so high, that they were not

able to charge anyone.

Unfortunately, the Home Office were

predicated on her leave to remain on

the conviction of her abuser, which

in itself I feel highlights the

flaws in the Home Office internal

processes. I do want to recognise

the work that has been done by the

Government in bringing the bonds

slavery act and the work they are

doing, but I think my constituency

case highlights some of the

challenges and floors -- Modern

Slavery Act. I identify some of the

issues. I would advise that the

burden of proof in a criminal case

is far higher beyond all reasonable

doubt than of a civil case. In light

of this, I would suggest any outcome

of a criminal case not impact on any

immigration appeal. I know the Prime

Minister when she was Home Secretary

commissioned a report which said

slavery remained under reported but

operational response was improving,

however the response said there was

a lack of consistency between

law-enforcement and criminal justice

agencies and poor quality

intelligence at all levels.

As things stand, my constituency has

-- my

As things stand, my constituency has

-- my constituent has the temporary

right to remain. The Home Office

needs to review its processes and

this case. The case might have been

difficult but the officers who

worked on it fought tooth and nail

from a constituent and I want to pay

tribute to the Met Police and put on

record how grateful I am for the

work they did to protect my

constituent when she was scared,

scared to send her children to

school, when she was worried her

attacker may come to Scotland and

seek her out. The notion that

anybody can that empathy or

sympathy, to me, it beggars belief.

That is what the report says.

Listening to the case of my

constituent, anyone would find it

difficult, and the cases of others

brought forward, to have sympathy

for those. She was brought at the

age of 14, taken to Nigeria, an

airport, given clothes and told she

would be leaving the country. The

women who took her told her not to

talk to anyone and do she was told.

She was brought to London and taken

to a house where she was told she

would be staying and looking after

children. She asked the woman when

she would be going back to school.

It was the first time the woman

slapped her. Mrs George asked about

her mother and she was told only to

speak when she was spoken to and

that she would not be allowed to

make any friends. Her daily routine

but getting up at 5am to get the

children ready for school,

collecting them, shopping, cleaning,

cooking. If she went out on an

errand, the woman would spit on the

floor and tell her she had to be

back before the split had dried or

she would be beaten. She was beaten

on a daily basis, she had her head

flushed down the toilet, she was

often privy to what we believe were

drug deals within the house. She had

a kettle of boiling water poured

over her chest. The details are very

distressing. My constituent gave us

permission before I came to the

House today to share those. I have

not shared them publicly before

although I have raised the case and

I am grateful for the work done by

the Home Office. Mrs George was

terrified that she would be killed

and that nobody would know she was

there. She was told if she ran away,

nobody would believe her. There was

nowhere for her to hide and she

would not be found, she was told.

She said there were often men honey

around and eventually when she

escaped at 17, she spent some time

on the streets, homeless, and

eventually was held at knife-point

and raped in North London -- men

hanging around. She escaped with her

now husband to Livingston, they have

jobs, three children, beautiful

children, they started a new life in

Livingston, but when she applied for

indefinite leave to remain, she was

told she could not work. Since the

Home Office intervention and

temporary leave to remain, both her

and her husband have returned to

work and her husband recently won an

award for social entrepreneurship.

It seems incredible that today

anybody would face such persecution

and such terrible treatment, but it

is the reality of my constituent and

I asked the Minister today to work

with me to look again at this case.

It is so distressing. She has come

to Livingston and spent significant

years there bringing up her children

and contributing to society. The

Scottish Government has done a huge

amount of work on the Sun published

its trafficking and exploitation

strategy to identify Papa support

victims and disrupt activity. I know

the Scottish Government is hugely

committed to that work and would

encourage the UK Government to look

at the good example being worked on.

-- to identify perpetrators. The

flaws that exist in the legal system

and in the Home Office are real,

real constituency cases we have, so