Officers hampered in fighting modern slavery as ‘rhetoric’ on immigration crime alters operational priorities

25th August 2025Sarah Gibbons, Contributing Editor, Policing Insight

A new report from Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons into how the UK policing response to modern slavery has changed over the past 10 years warns that the Whitehall rhetoric and political focus on organised immigration crime has left forces under resourced and officers with “one hand tied behind their backs” in the fight against modern slavery – despite the significant impact on victims and the economy – as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

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Officers hampered in fighting modern slavery as ‘rhetoric’ on immigration crime alters operational priorities

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